Junction of Time and Dreams
by Seven To Finish
Summary: Pretty hot Seifer/Squall story with a not so great ending, whatever, I at least finished it.


Seifer Almasy blinked his eyes repeatedly at the dark blur he saw in the fog. Seeing nothing but grey wisps of whatever-crap-was-in-the-air for days, months, who knows, years maybe, left him believing there would never be anything else.

But the dark spot didn't vanish when his eyes refocused, so Seifer pulled Hyperion out of its sheath and headed in that direction. He wasn't going to allow himself to hope. Not after all this time and everything he'd been through. But he damned well wasn't going to sit on his ass and give up either.

The shape became more defined the closer he got. He was taken aback by who he thought he was seeing, but if he thought about it, maybe he shouldn't have been. He _was_ one of the last people he'd seen before… this.

"Shit, Leonhart?" Seifer stopped about twenty paces away leaning his weight casually on one foot. "Is that you?" He stood confidently, making sure not to show any of the uneasiness he felt inside. It could be a trick. Like a shape-shifting monster. Or worse, another insane bitch disguised as someone significant to Seifer.

He thumbed the hilt of Hyperion as he waited for a response. Hopefully this would be the beginning of the end of this hell he'd been in. Good or bad, he didn't give a shit either way. An end was all he wanted at this point. Considering the way his luck had been running, it wasn't going to end well. And something was definitely wrong with this picture. Leonhart stood silent and unmoving, holding a clipboard of all things. It didn't make sense.

After what felt like an eternity with no reply, he firmed his grip on his blade. With his mind now prepared for a battle, his body made haste to catch up. He felt the skin-crawling feeling adrenaline gave him and welcomed it. He wasn't going to allow this thing, whatever it was, to strike first.

The injury was gone. Vanished just like magic. The way Leonhart explained it; what happened here didn't last when he woke up and didn't return when he came back.

How fucking convenient.

When Seifer got injured here, he was able to enjoy it fully for as long as it took his body to heal. Luckily for him, fighting hadn't been on the agenda.

Seifer was sprawled out on the oversized leather couch cleaning Hyperion with the new cleaning kit Squall had 'created'. Since they were getting along okay, Leonhart was willing to give him things he asked for. A comfortable couch instead of a metal chair was the first thing he requested. How Squall could punish such a perfect ass by sitting on those hard chairs all day, Seifer could not understand. Once it was marked 'Seifer's Property', he'd treat it properly.

The downside to all their happiness and sharing was Leonhart could only give him things he had personal knowledge of. That meant he couldn't give him anything that was actually entertaining to anyone over the age of twelve. But, if he -_could_- give it, he -_did_-, and that seemed very promising to Seifer.

The only thing he still got pissy about was those stupid lists.

It's not like Seifer didn't return his lists all neat and orderly. And he didn't call him a pussy, he only suggested he might be one for making such stupid lists. He also never said that he was a bad fighter, just that he might be better suited for wearing an apron and running a grocery store than swinging a gunblade and running a team of soldiers.

However, instead of thanking him for his astute observations, he threw one of those Hyne-cursed silent tantrums of his at Seifer's 'intrusion' and made some very rude threats about restraints and torture devices. Some people just can not take constructive criticism.

Seifer told him he should at least start doing the lists instead of making them. He really did not enjoy sitting there for hours watching Leonhart contemplate the order in which he enjoyed twenty different types of candy. There was at least a dozen times when Seifer was about to shake him and yell, "Who gives a shit if you put butterscotch in front of peppermint, but might like peppermint better. Just write that shit down and lets fuck or something!" But he knew it would be pointless because Leonhart never listened to reason.

Fortunately, he had a meeting with Dr. Kadowaki and she approved of the idea, although she was pushing for him to do it real time.

Seifer did not approve.

He'd seen every item on those lists. There were lots of things that required licking and that might give people ideas. Ideas Seifer would need to crush and that was hard to do while stuck here. Still, he had a few ideas bouncing around his head on how he might still be able to accomplish that.

But, the lists? No. Doing it here was better for everyone's safety. At least Leonhart was on his side in that regard.

Unfortunately, he was being painfully bitchy about Seifer just wanting to help.

"Fine, feed yourself then," the thwarted blonde replied testily. He went back to pretending to clean his gunblade instead of watching the display at the table. "Are you sure that's even going to be enough?" Leonhart was practically cross-eyed looking at the large ice-cream sundae in front of him. It was ridiculously huge.

Squall hated, -_hated_-, doing this already. He tried to make a simple ice-cream, but he could only make things he actually remembered. Considering the fact that the last time he'd had ice-cream he was five - in his memory ice-cream was big and covered with whipped cream and a cherry.

He felt like an idiot just sitting in the near vicinity of it. He didn't even want to look at it. Maybe he should do this in his private quarters where no one would be around. But then he'd have to go to the commissary and buy ice-cream under the curious eyes of gossip loving cadets and that was even more unappealing.

"This was your idea. You were the one that said doing this might help," he reminded Seifer, coolly.

"Huh. Might help you get fat."

Squall gripped the sides of the table. Hard. His muscles strained from the effort it took not to hurl the ice-cream at Seifer's head. The prick had been giving him shit for what seemed like hours. "I didn't mean to make it so big," he said through clenched teeth.

Seifer smirked. "You don't have to eat it."

Squall closed his eyes and breathed through the remark like it was an excruciating pain. He struggled to rein his annoyance in even though it was the idiot blonde scum-sucking-son-of-a-whore-bitch who suggested he eat it in the first place.

Squall opened his eyes and glared daggers at the ice-cream in front of him, but it remained fluffy and cheerful in spite of the threat of death. It certainly wasn't making him any happier yet. Maybe if he ate it, Seifer would disappear like Dr. Kadowaki mentioned. Scooping a bit off the top, he brought it to his lips with new determination.

Seifer gave up pretending not be interested. His eyebrows rose in fascination.

Leonhart eating dried rations? He'd seen that countless times. Watching him eat squirming larvae on survival exercises was par for the course. But this? He'd never seen anything like this. Watching Leonhart lick ice-cream off a spoon was as strange as picturing Fujin spouting poetry.

Not that he didn't appreciate the view, and he would definitely be repeating it in his mind later when he was alone, but he was conflicted. Like watching two different people in the same body. He couldn't decide whether he wanted to make fun of him or fuck him.

The second person was definitely winning out. Leonhart no longer seemed like the frustrating, soulless rival Seifer used to think he was. Instead, he just seemed naive, unaware and way too fucking serious. But somehow he was remarkably competent in spite of it all.

Still, this whole ice cream thing was unquestionably dumb. He really was clueless if he thought this was the best life had to offer. He really needed some expert attention and there was no better expert than Seifer.

He tossed his gunblade aside and strolled over to where Leonhart and his ice-cream were becoming intimate.

Squall gave the mischievous blonde a look in warning as he watched him plop down across the table from him.

Seifer smiled deviously in response. "What? I just came to help you. Don't get your panties in a bunch."

Seifer was more than unrelenting. "I told you I can feed myself." He took another bite then displayed the empty spoon as if to say, "See?"

"I meant help you eat it. I know how you girls like to watch your figure. Gimme a bite," He leaned forward and opened his mouth, apparently expecting Squall to just shovel it right in there.

Squall blinked slowly at him, his expression serene while managing to be condescending at the same time.

Squall had been gritting his teeth for so long he had given himself a headache because he thought the smartass was bored and trying to start a fight again. No matter what Squall did, the bastard was quick to berate him. But even though Seifer had been belligerent and annoying as usual, looking back he realized it had been lacking its normal venom. The prick wasn't trying to fight him. He was teasing him.

He wouldn't have even noticed it at all if it weren't for the fact that Irvine teased him sometimes when Squall was feeling tolerant. He recalled that Seifer used to act this way with his friends; making fun of them without being cruel like he did to cadets he didn't like.

But why would his subconscious be making Seifer like him more? Did he secretly wish he was friends with the aggravating prick? That didn't seem likely. But then, why did he keep dreaming about him? Why was he imagining him to act this way? What would have happened if they became friends before the war? Would that have changed things?

"Hello?" Seifer snapped his fingers inches from Squall's face forcing his attention back to the present. The brunette slapped his hand away like it was an annoying insect then took another bite, ignoring him.

Seifer kicked his chair. "I said, give me a bite!"

Squall narrowed his eyes in warning. He was tempted to grab a handful of ice cream and shove it in his face. You know, to match his _playfulness_, but he probably shouldn't encourage him.

"No. I don't have another spoon."

Seifer frowned at him childishly. "So use yours,"

"That's disgusting," Squall dismissed flatly, and took a big bite while maintaining eye contact with the blonde.

Squall was taunting him. The blonde's lips curled slightly. There was nothing more fun than an insolent Leonhart. Usually he was being far too superior to stoop to this level. Ironically, Leonhart was also the only one alive brave enough to stoop to this level. This was always entertaining, but it might also include a concussion.

Seifer smiled serenely as he dragged a finger straight through the middle of the sundae taking a nice big chunk out of it. He sucked it off noisily while the brunette pursed his lips in repulsion. But Seifer wasn't satisfied yet.

"Why is that disgusting? I've had my tongue in your mouth."

Squall stiffened marginally. He thought there had been an unspoken agreement not to discuss that. The ice-cream stuck in his throat and he had to swallow hard. "And I recall being disgusted by that, too."

"That's because you didn't give it a chance. You ran away fast as your little legs could carry you."

"I don't need to give it a chance to know that it's disgusting. I don't need to drink grat piss, either, to know it's disgusting. And I'd rather drink grat piss."

That gave him a great idea. His eyes lit up and his tone changed instantly. "You know, if it's true that you really do 'wake up' and do what you want, then I want you to do something for me."

Squall scoffed in disbelief. Seifer had the attention span of a first year cadet. "What?"

"Go to the pub in Balamb and buy the beer they brew there. If you drink it you'll know what it tastes like and can make it for me, right? But make sure you don't get that imported crap all the cadets drink. That shit tastes like dishwater."

Yeah, but- "I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to give anyone the wrong impression."

"What?" Seifer scoffed. "That you're a grown-up?"

"I don't want to set a bad example for the cadets," he snapped.

"Who cares?" Seifer couldn't understand why Leonhart would be worried what the cadets thought. He was just a SeeD. The SeeDs didn't care what the cadets did when Seifer was there. That's what instructors were for and if they failed, the DC handled it. "Why would they give a shit what you do? Just don't drink in front of them and don't make an ass of yourself."

Squall rolled his eyes but he was considering it. Seifer would likely bitch and whine until he got what he wanted anyway. It would save him a headache just to agree. He could slip out when everyone was working or in class and it wasn't a difficult request. Maybe if he made Seifer happy, instead of himself, the dreams would go away. He sighed. It was worth a shot. He nodded once in acquiescence.

"Good. I want you to pass a message on to Raijin, too. Gimme a pen and paper." He gestured impatiently with his hand.

Squall scoffed and shook his head in disbelief. No one spoke to Squall like this. Ever. It was actually kind of amusing in a, you're-about-to-get-your-ass-kicked, kind of way. Squall wasn't sure why he kept humoring Seifer. Surely the blonde had reached the limits of Squall's goodwill. He wasn't normally this tolerant, was he?

The items appeared before Seifer and he quickly grabbed them and scribbled something down, then handed his message to Leonhart.

Squall looked at the message. It was in code. He shook his head. "I'm not going to give Raijin a coded message from you."

"Come on, just read it. Even you can tell it's harmless. I'm not telling him to go start a war or anything. Just slip it in his box so no one notices."

Squall rolled his eyes, but he nodded so Seifer would shut up. Seifer misunderstood his reluctance. People would surely think he was insane since it was obviously gibberish. The last think he needed to do was hand over a 'coded' message from 'Seifer' so they can lock him up in a mental hospital.

Squall noticed his ice-cream had now melted all over the table and - damnit - his hands, too. He held them up in disgust as gravity caused them to drip the white goopy mess into the bigger puddles on the table. "This is stupid. I refuse to do this. There has to be another way."

"You're right. It is stupid," Seifer agreed, "but only 'cause you're doing it wrong."

Seifer grabbed his wrist and sucked in one cold messy finger before Leonhart could remember he was frigid. With Squall, it was all about catching him off guard. Even when they fought, it was the only way you could get ahead. Seifer called it gaining tactical advantage. Leonhart called it fighting dirty.

He sucked and licked and wound his tongue around it, knowing exactly what that felt like and exactly where he would feel it. He cleaned it free of mess, smiling suggestively yet still innocently enough. Let Leonhart make of it what he would.

Squall watched as Seifer started on the next finger. His mouth was hot and burning against his cold skin. The heat matched closely in intensity to the fiery chill that tore down his spine every time Seifer's tongue curled around his finger like that. When he finished, Squall noticed he meant to move on to a third. He ripped his hand away.

"Why do you keep doing things like that?"

"Like what?" he asked with false innocence.

Squall glared at him. The bastard knew what he meant, but he wanted to force him to say it thinking he could embarrass him again just because it worked once. Seifer was the idiot who did those things, why should he be the one embarrassed by them?

"Things like sticking your tongue in my mouth and sucking on my fingers. Are you hungry or do you just need a gag for your mouth?"

Seifer chuckled. "I was just giving you time to adjust to the fact that I'm going to fuck you, seeing as you're a virgin and all. But a gag makes sense, I mean, you're obviously into belts so if you want skip straight to bondage-"

In less than the time it took Seifer to blink, he was bound to the leather couch with a gag in his mouth. Leonhart apparently had no problem pushing his weight around and acting like Hyne himself when he had the power to do so. And he thinks Seifer fights dirty? Just wait until he got out of here and could meet the hypocrite on 'equal terms'.

Seifer tried to mumble something through the gag. He kept pushing the damned thing out with his tongue but couldn't get it to stay. He mumbled several different times trying to make it more clear. He couldn't give up. It was important.

Leonhart shook his head in distaste, but at least he was walking over to move the gag and let Seifer have his say.

"What." He demanded, more than asked.

"Don't forget the beer."

Squall scoffed and rolled his eyes. He could see Seifer grinning behind the gag.

* * *

"Whoa, you know." Raijin had stopped Squall on his way back to his dorm. "It's weird to see you with that," he said, pointing to the beer. Squall had gone to town and bought the requested beer, and was on his way to drink it.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just, Seifer used to drink that shit all the time man. Tastes like piss so I don't see it around much, you know?"

Squall's eyebrows furrowed in his confusion. How could his dream Seifer have know that? There was no way he could have. Squall had to have already known it; remembered that he drank it in the past somehow.

Then he realized who it was he was talking to. Only Hyne himself knows why Squall ended up sneaking that moronic message into Raijin's box after all. He hoped he wasn't here because he saw him do it and was wondering why Squall was leaving him gibberish like a lunatic.

"Raijin, what are you doing here?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, I was just waiting here for Fujin."

"In my hallway?" Her quarters were on the third floor.

"Well, uh, I was just thinkin' about moving to this level, ya know? Maybe the view's better."

He nodded. They were on the basement level.

Whatever.

He didn't like being around Raijin and Fujin much. He was glad they agreed to come back to Garden, but he avoided them as much as possible. It was uncomfortable having a screaming reminder of who wasn't here each time he saw them. He knew they must feel the same.

Although, who was he kidding? He avoided everyone as much as possible.

He nodded to Raijin again in departure then passed his personal quarters with another destination in mind.

* * *

"Fuck this is _good_."

The sides of Squall's lips turned up ever so slightly at the exclamation. He has never, in any of his dreams pleased Seifer like this. In fact, he's never pleased Seifer ever. He'd seen him before, in the hall, laughing with Raijin or Fujin over some joke, but he'd never been the reason. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think he could make Seifer happy by drinking something that tasted like grat piss smelt.

Seifer heard a snort and he looked at Leonhart. He narrowed his eyes discerningly. The flushed brunette was leaning his face on one hand while his other arm rested heavily on the table. He narrowed his eyes some more. If he didn't know better, he'd almost say it almost looked like Leonhart was smiling. "Are you drunk?"

"What?" Leonhart replied, sitting upright quickly in surprise at the question. That made him a little dizzy.

Now Seifer was staring at him intensely. Leonhart was wearing his normal leather pants and t-shirt, his jacket was hanging off the back of the chair, but one of his pant legs was above his boot while the other covered his ankle. His shirt was also half tucked in and half riding up his torso. His stupid necklace was hanging down his back! He wasn't normally a perfect dresser, but this was- He wasn't even able to sit still. "You are drunk. You're practically swaying!" He accused, pointing a finger at him.

"I'm not drunk," he replied, indignant. "I am only slightly intoxicated."

"How much did you drink?" he demanded.

Squall scoffed. Seifer acted like he owned him. Like he deserved his every question answered immediately. "Just one unit." It's not like he was a raging alcoholic. He almost never drank.

"You mean a six-pack?"

"….." He was not going to answer that when Seifer obviously knew how much was in a unit.

"Look at you! You can't even keep your balance sitting in a fucking chair. What is wrong with you?"

"I'm fine!" he replied testily. He did not need Seifer, of all people, to gain an interest in his wellbeing. He got quite enough of that during the day.

"Did you at least make it home from the bar? Or are you passed out at the bar 'dreaming' this?" he asked standing up angrily, throwing his arm in the air, although he was feeling more panic than anger.

"I don't drink in bars!" he exclaimed, resentful of the accusation. The only reason he even drank the disgusting liquid was for the impudent asshole. "I bought your stupid beer and drank it at back at Garden."

"Did anyone see you like this?" he asked, gesturing at his appearance in annoyance. Seifer was jealous and was pissed off at the clueless fighter for making him feel that way.

Squall looked down to see what the loudmouth was complaining about and started straightening himself up. He actually was kind of a mess. "Of course not," he spit out. "What kind of example would that set for the cadets to see their Commander walking around intoxicated?"

"Their _what_?" Leonhart commander of Garden? He had to be drunk.

Seifer caught the inebriated soldier by the arms moments before he was going to fall out of his chair and hit the ground. "Ok, Commander, you need to lie down."

"Seifer!" he complained when the blonde lifted him.

"What?" he groused.

"Put me down!"

"I am. See?" Seifer tossed him on the couch. Leonhart tried to sit up but couldn't figure out which way was up. "Just stay." Apparently, he was going to listen for once, since he put his head back down and closed his eyes. Thank Hyne.

Seifer pushed _the commander's_ feet away and sat at the end of the couch with his beer.

"Shit," Seifer said. "You had to ruin my fun didn't you? Finally get something decent to drink and I gotta let it get hot so I can baby-sit you. Fuck. You really are twelve." Seifer was hoping they'd drink a little, loosen up a little, get it a little less dressed-

Squall sat up, indignant. These sharp moves made him dizzy. "I don't need a babysitter." He spit out vehemently, apparently not as passed out as Seifer thought. "and I'm intoxicated for you, you jackass! You were the one who pointed out my appearance. I was trying to fix the hem of my pants and you threw me!"

Oh. "I thought you were falling."

Squall crossed his arms tightly across his chest to keep his hands from inadvertently strangling the blonde. "You could have asked," he bit out angrily. "If I can handle poison gas, I think I can handle one unit of beer!"

"Six pack," Seifer said, helpfully.

Squall shook his head, not understanding. "What?"

"Say 'six pack'. Not unit. You sound like an idiot."

Squall scoffed. Unbelievable. "Whatever."

The brunette remained quiet while he relaxed his arms and muscles willing the impending headache to go away and the dizziness to subside. But, he had something he just couldn't let go.

"You know, you are an ass. You do this every time. You tell me to do something then when I do it, you make me feel stupid for doing it. You asked me to drink the beer. I'm not a child. I can drink and be intoxicated and handle it. Hyne, we had a class on it!"

Seifer was grinning like a stupid fool.

"What?" Squall demanded, testily. And people wondered why Squall liked hitting him so much?

"You're talking a lot."

Squall groaned and lay back down, covering his face with his arms. Sitting up wasn't helping his dizziness.

"You are home, right? You aren't passed out somewhere?" He was calm now, but he needed reassurance.

"I'm not in my room, but I'm not passed out somewhere."

He was no longer calm. "Where the fuck did you go?"

Squall lifted one arm to eye his reaction. "Your room."

What- wait. "You're in my room?" Leonhart was in- "My dorm room?"

"Yes." He smiled faintly and laid his arm back down to cover it.

He had a room still? That was interesting. "I still have a room?"

"Yes."

He wanted to know why, but he needed to know something else much more urgently. "What are you wearing?"

Squall lifted his arms back up to look at him incredulous.

"I assume you're on my bed," he explained. "There's no where else to sit unless you're passed out on my student chair which is less comfortable than these damned cafeteria chairs you love so much, so what are you wearing?"

"I-," he frowned at Seifer then laid his head back down. Arms covering his face again. "I don't remember."

"Why did you go to my room and not yours?"

He didn't want anyone knocking on his door and having to answer it intoxicated. "No one would come to your room." Oh, yeah. "And Raijin was hanging around my hallway."

Seifer smiled and nodded his head in approval. Raijin was always reliable.

He still really needed to know-"What were you wearing before you fell asleep?"

"Why?" Seifer's sudden interest in fashion was stupid. Hems have to be aligned, proper sleepwear accounted for. He was beginning to sound like Rinoa.

"I just want to know. What's the big deal? You're in my room. At least tell me what you're wearing."

"No."

"Oh, sorry, is that top secret _commander_ information?"

Squall smiled in spite of himself, while Seifer stared in awe. He had to admit, his dreams had been more amusing lately now that he had been validating Seifer's desire for, well, validation. He decided to give in to his desires yet again. "I don't know. T-shirt, socks? ...but you're right. I'm in your bed. I didn't want to walk back to my quarters smelling like beer. Well, piss actually."

Seifer wondered if he meant t-shirt and socks along with other clothes or he meant just t-shirt and socks alone. Did he wear underwear under his leather? He always wanted to know, but Squall would never have told him.

"At least you aren't wandering around drunk." And he preferred to imagine Leonhart in his bed in his white t-shirt and socks with nothing else. Lying between Seifer's sheets. Maybe they hadn't even been cleaned. Maybe Seifer jacked off in there and Squall was sleeping on it. He was getting really hard thinking about the possibilities. And he hadn't even gotten to the morning yet. Leonhart would likely need to shower. In Seifer's shower. Naked.

Squall frowned. "Why does it matter to you if I was?" He really was acting like- "You sound like Rinoa."

That dumped a bucket of cold water on him. "Are you seeing her?" he accused.

Squall didn't like how bringing up Rinoa put Seifer on edge so fast. Did he still want her? "Why are you jealous?" he snapped.

Very "She was using me, and I was using her. I don't give a fuck about her. Are you seeing her?"

He sighed, relaxing again. "No,"

He wasn't satisfied. "Were you ever?"

"No."

Okay, Rinoa was decently hot and extremely easy. Now he was curious. "Why not?"

Squall inwardly grimaced. His goal of not lying to his subconscious needed to be reworked. "She said she was tired of pursuing me." She was unreasonable and their last conversation wasn't pleasant. Squall just didn't want to move as fast as she did.

Seifer laughed. "I know the feeling."

Squall glared at him. Seifer wasn't pursuing him. He was snacking on him. "Do you want to hear it or not?" Selphie's head would explode if Squall offered her this opportunity. She'd be much more appreciative of his attempts to 'work things out.'

"Naw.. I got it all figured out," he said, like a pompous ass. "She was tired of pursuing you because she likes men that pursue her. Plus you're prettier than her. She probably thought she was becoming a lesbian." He laughed.

Fucking. "Asshole" Hyne-damned prick of all things evil.

Seifer smiled at him like a kid with a secret.

Squall had never seen the blonde smile so much. What an idiot. "What?"

He chuckled "You'd never tell me any of this shit if we weren't stuck here."

Squall scoffed. He would never tell him because if the bastard was real, he would torture him with it. "I am only telling you so I can stop dreaming about you."

"Why do you dream about me all the time?"

Squall shrugged. He wished he knew. He covered his face with both arms again. He didn't understand the Seifer dreams. He never did.

"Hmm, dreaming about your enemy instead of that little red-head chick on level two at the end of-"

He lifted his hands in a panic. "Stop!"

"Eh, What? What's wrong?" Seifer was baffled by the alarm over something so trivial.

"Because you don't exist," he explained. "If you say something about someone it means it's something I want and wasn't aware of and I don't want too look at any of my subordinates that way." That's all he'd see every time he saw them and he couldn't have that.

"So what do you do about the people you _know_ you're attracted to?"

"I don't have that problem," he mumbled.

"And, everything I do here is your fault? Something you want and you just don't know it?" Seifer grinned. Squall just handed him the master key.

"…" He didn't like it put quite that way in that tone of voice. He threw his arms back over his face. If he couldn't see him, he could ignore him better.

"Squall," he said in a low tone that definitely set Squall's nerves on notice. "Is dreaming about me really so bad?"

That should be an easy question; he should be quick to say yes. But in a sense, it gave him hope. Hope he probably shouldn't have. Things would never be fixed. Seifer would never be alive. For the past year he could answer, yes, emphatically. But lately the dreams were kind of… compelling. It was stupid. And probably dangerous to let himself get so relaxed. He would end up like those crazy people in insane asylums who couldn't accept reality. He could end up there tomorrow if he told his staff how he was becoming friends with Seifer and they had fun drinking and eating ice cream.

The weight on his legs brought him out of his reflections. "What are you doing?"

"You just keep talking to the voices in your head. I can entertain myself." Seifer grabbed both his wrists with just one hand, since they were so conveniently together above his head, Seifer perceived it as in invitation. It was so welcoming.

Seifer spread his body on top him, holding both his arms, as if that could hold him. "You know I can throw you off in an instant now that I understand how my dreams work, right?"

Seifer nodded, and kissed him. Or at least tried to. He was being very tight lipped and wouldn't allow him entry. Seifer was slightly worried he wouldn't feel the emotions, feel the pleasure, without having experienced them before, like he couldn't create things without knowing them first. He was also aware he wasn't hanging thirty feet away bound with razor wire yet. That gave him some hope, plus he was never above manipulating to get what he wanted.

"But you want this," Seifer reminded him.

With his free hand he pushed Leonhart's chin to have access to his neck instead. The brunette allowed it passive, curious, but indifferent.

"I don't." he said calmly, but Seifer was close enough now he could actually seethe blood pumping, his pulse quickening.

His neck was smooth, no roughness of stubble anywhere. Seifer nuzzled against it, breathing him in. He smelled so good and his skin felt like silk.

"You do, or I wouldn't be doing this." It made him so fucking hard to know that this was really Leonhart lying beneath him, really Leonhart allowing him to do this

"It's not possible," he said, his voice becoming strained. He was losing his calm.

Seifer's thumb traced a vein and his tongue became eager to follow with small, light licks that quickly drove him insane, turning deeper and harder and greedy in his need to taste. More. Right. Now.

Squall was beginning to make soft little panting noises that were driving Seifer mad. "Hyne, Squall, you want this so fucking bad." The brunette shook his head, trying to deny it. "Don't lie, Squall. I don't even exist, remember?"

He sucked on the pulse that was beating hard for him and then became sidetracked by the Griever chain lying prettily on his neck. He licked the length of it, loving the taste of metal and salty skin combined. He pulled the chain tighter cutting into his skin, tracing the path with his tongue and Squall gasped in surprise or pain or pleasure, Seifer didn't know or really care, but he no longer needed to maneuver him, Squall was stretching beneath him, giving him full access.

Squall's sudden willingness set the last remnant of his brain completely on fire. He groaned roughly, practically growling, sucking hard on his neck and shoulder and any place he could find that was still pale and dry and unmarked until Squall was squirming and panting, until even Seifer couldn't take it anymore. He was already fully hard and unable to control thrusting into the body beneath him. If he didn't stop now, he would never be able to, and he wasn't even sure he could stop now.

He pulled away, giving Squall a moment to breathe as he lifted off his shirt. Leonhart was eyeing him appreciatively but there was apprehension there, too. Seifer would never force an unwilling partner, but the brunette was flushed and panting, hard and laying passively beneath him. He wasn't unwilling, plus Seifer remembered why he needed it.

"It's number one on your list." Seifer tried, lips twitching.

Squall huffed in disbelief. "Liar."

Seifer pulled the shirt off Leonhart and tossed it, and only Hyne knows why, but he allowed it.

"Well, it should be," Seifer replied, hungrily eyeing his shirtless prey.

This time, Leonhart's lips were soft and relenting and then Seifer new for certain his sexuality was instinctual because the tongue now in his mouth was in direct correspondence to their recent activities. In other words, he was fully into it.

Leonhart now had free hands and he used them to stroke up the side of Seifer's body, causing the blonde to shiver and grind harder into him. He pulled back, wanting to beg him to please make their pants disappear because he didn't think he could figure out how to undue that many fucking belts while feeling this punch-drunk just from fucking kissing.

But he suddenly vanished, leaving Seifer shocked at the swiftness of it but not half as shocked as the image before it.

Leonhart half-lidded, licking his swollen lips, and saying, "More," would forever be branded in his brain. He'd never be able to look at him without seeing that face again.

Seifer lie on the couch with his mess dribbling down the sides of his stomach. He had never come so hard from masturbating before. He knew Leonhart's body would be a pleasure to touch, but he didn't know his responses would be more intoxicating than any beer. He didn't even get to drink his. It was sitting on the table, probably hot now. Seifer was having too much trouble caring. He just made out with Leonhart, and Leonhart loved it. He was going to have to do that again as soon as possible.

Squall woke up, panting and hard. That was not where he thought his dreams would go when he started therapy. He reached down, grabbing his dick and hissed in part pain and part pleasure. He was harder than he had ever been before. Apparently, he was attracted to Seifer. And gay. And he would worry about that later. He pumped himself, remembering the way Seifer held him down while grinding against him and kissing him, and then a fire burned him alive.

And then, oh-fucking-Hyne, the world crashed down on him once his breath returned to normal. He got drunk and woke up masturbating to his dead enemy in his dead enemy's bed. Something was probably seriously wrong with him, and maybe he should start being worried about himself as much as everyone else seemed to be.

* * *

Squall sat in the midst of a group of SeeDs completely alone in his thoughts. Alright, so Seifer wanted him. Except it's not really him so that means he wanted Seifer to want him. That meant he must want Seifer, right? Squall pinched the bridge of his nose. Well, obviously. That was pretty apparent last night. But he must have known that subconsciously for the bastard to act that way towards him since he, in theory, ultimately controls him. Thinking about the way Seifer held him down made his cheeks burn. Maybe control isn't the best term to think about right now.

Squall sighed deeply and chewed on his lip. He couldn't stop thinking about it. He was turning into a loved starved cadet after just one kiss. He was turning into Irvine. Psychology was never his strong point and he definitely was - not - going to ask Dr. Kadowaki about this.

He knew he needed to come to terms with the fact that he let Seifer do those things. Maybe he shouldn't let things happen to him and instead control it like Dr. Kadowaki told him to. The fact that it's not real meant he could do whatever he wanted, right? But if he could do anything he wanted to Seifer, what would he want to do? As he thought about the possibilities, a smile tugged at the edge of his mouth.

A startled cough brought his attention back to the present. Squall looked around the lunch table to see the entire group staring at him. He started when he noticed Raijin sitting right next to him. He had never sat by Squall before. In fact, I don't think this was his normal lunch time.

"I didn't notice you sit down." Squall mentioned, questioning.

"That's alright, ya know." He shrugged. "I know you don't like to talk much." And he continued eating.

He frowned at the looks people were giving him. Squall gathered his papers, and left with a confident stride although he felt more confused than ever.

Squall was poring over new field reports when Irvine knocked on his door and poked his head in.

"Hey, Squall. Got a minute?"

Not really. He sighed. "If it's quick." He didn't bother looking up from his papers.

"Well," he scratched the hair under his hat and moved into the room, closing the door behind him, "It's like this. People have been noticing a few things about you lately and it has people worrying."

Squall rolled his eyes at the paperwork although that wasn't what was causing his annoyance. He looked up at the reason.

"People are always noticing something and they're always worried about something," he said curtly. This time, I have it covered. I am worrying about it myself.

"Yeah, but, Squall, have you seen yourself?"

He frowned, not understanding.

"Have you looked in a mirror all day?"

What was wrong, did he have food stains all over his face? Hyne, what a day he picked to not get ready in his own quarters. Seifer's shower was such a mess he got in and out of there as fast as he could. He didn't even pause to check his appearance.

He made his way to the office bathroom and gasped once he was standing in front of the mirror. He stared in shock at his reflection. He had bruises all over his visible body.

"That's what I'm talking about. And then there's the whole weird thing about Raijin shadowing you all the time, givin' everyone the stink eye. It just has people thinkin', you know…"

"Stink eye?" He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"You know, glarin' at anyone getting within ten feet of you like you and he are-"

"What!" he spit out. Everyone knew Raijin and Fujin were, well, whatever they were "I'm not. Raijin and I-"

"No, no, I know." He waived his hands in front of himself in an effort to alleviate Squall. "We talked to him. He, uh, said you slept alone. In Seifer's room."

Son of a bitch.

"I must have injured myself in my sleep." That was the only explanation. He must have been pinching himself.

"Squall, but, those aren't bruises. And those are teeth marks on your neck right there."

This couldn't be happening. He searched his skin.

"Look, right there," he pointed out.

Hyne, he was right. Teeth marks. There was nothing else they could be. Could he say he was attacked in his sleep and been too drunk to wake up? No one would be that stupid to believe it. "I don't understand."

"Squall, are you okay, man? I mean. Are you saying you aren't seeing Raijin so is there someone else?"

"No," he replied, distantly. He was trying to figure it out himself.

"It's just," he was scratching under his hat again. Nervous. "Selphie said she saw you at lunch today with Raijin, and you were, uh, blushing, and um, smiling kind of, but-"

"Irvine, I have work to do," he dismissed him curtly.

"Right, " he said disappointed. "Right. I understand. Well, I'll just tell the gals that you're alright." He looked at him pointedly, "For now. But if you ask me-"

"Sorry, Irvine." And he meant it. It wasn't Irvine's fault. "I really need to get back to work."

"Alright, alright. I'm going. See ya, Squall."

He paused at the door. "You -will- tell us about it later, right?"

Not a chance. "Of course."

Irvine scoffed. "Yeah right. That's alright. We'll get it out of you sooner or later," he smirked and left.

Squall stared at himself in the mirror, lowering the neck of his shirt. No wonder everyone was staring at him. He went to his desk and wrote down the note he had written Raijin.

Keep Sub Notice on student PB sctn 964. Rprt to DCLDR soon.

Ok, sub. Could be subterfuge, subtle, subjugated… notice. Sub notice meant spying most likely because that was what Raijin seemed like he was doing. Bastard had him spying on me.

_No, I did that to myself. Stupid, stupid!_

Section 964. Squall rolled his office chair across the floor to the orderly bookcase and pulled out student regulations sections zero to one thousand. 964 had to do with sexual harassment. That didn't make any sense.

"-a student may request protection if harassment has been refuted and unproven. Said protection is allowed as a witness-" Squall slammed the book shut. He knew what it meant. Arrogant beyond belief.

Squall walked to the mirror again, touching the marks on his neck. Nothing held over from his dreams to the real world. But if something was real…

But 'this thing' finally looked up from the pad of paper it was staring at, and when it did, the expression on its face was one hundred percent Leonhart. Everything about him was just as Seifer remembered. From his messed up girly hair down to his dangerous steal-toed shoes. Which were particularly dangerous when you mentioned his girly hair.

In fact, the only thing that seemed wrong about him was his complete and utter lack of shock at seeing Seifer. Not that a blank expression was unusual for Leonhart. Seifer was an expert at reading behind those icy blue eyes and was able to find emotions when others found none, but there really was nothing. If anything, Leonhart maybe seemed slightly disappointed to see him, but definitely not surprised. After all this time, he expected something more than disinterest. Apparently Seifer hadn't been missed at all. The fact that it pissed him off, _pissed him off_.

Squall gave the cocky blonde a once-over and frowned at the antagonistic look he was suddenly getting. Apparently, Seifer decided he was going to be mad at him about something and Squall had no interest in finding out what it was. "I am not doing this with you anymore, Seifer," he said calmly, but firmly, and went back to his notepad, making it obvious he intended to ignore the blonde. He was going to stick to his plan.

Seifer opened his mouth to reply, but nothing quite came out. He just stood there, eyes squinting in confusion, mouth still open, trying to think of a response. He wasn't usually speechless, but he also wasn't used to replying to someone who made no fucking sense.

Of the many things he expected Leonhart might say to him after all this time, that was not one of them. He expected maybe, "Seifer, are you ok?" Or, "Seifer, you are such a bastard!" He even had a response for something as surprising as "Seifer, I've always wanted to blow you. Would now be okay?" In which he would reply, 'Yes. Now would be the perfect time'.

But, he had no idea how to reply because he had no idea what 'this' they had been doing, that they weren't going to do anymore, was. After shaking his head to clear it, the perfect response finally came to him. "Huh?"

Squall peered at him over the edge of his clipboard as if he was the one acting suspicious and strange. Seifer tried again. "Hey, uh, listen Leonhart. Not really sure what you mean but, uh, I've been looking for a way out of here for a while so –"

"…..." Squall returned his eyes to his work, pointedly ignoring the blonde.

Still at a loss and not knowing quite how to proceed, Seifer continued to stare for a moment. Leonhart wasn't even looking at him and didn't seem to be listening to him either. He had been almost glad to see the skinny-fucking-mute after all this time wandering around - time. But this was weird and he was really getting fucking sick of weird.

Seifer stormed over until he was inches away from the brunette ignoring him. He was ready to dispense with the pleasantries. "Listen, freak. I don't know what's going on in that fucked up head of yours, but I want out of here and you are going to show me how you got in here if I have to drag your scrawny ass kicking and screaming the whole way."

That did it. _Good_. Seifer was finally getting somewhere as a familiar icy-blue glare took focus on him and _stayed_. Now he could see some emotion behind those eyes. Much better than indifference.

"I told you, I am not doing this anymore with you. Go away, Seifer."

But Seifer didn't move. Instead, he gave Leonhart his best '_are-you-fucking-insane_?' look because he had obviously gone completely loopy if he thought Seifer was going to be dismissed so easily. Maybe he'd hit him in the head too many times. Something he'd regret now if it meant that Leonhart was too brain dead to show him the way out of here.

But Squall didn't say anything more. Instead, he just turned and walked away. Seifer couldn't believe this was Leonhart. No way would he turn his back like that. He must be in dire need of an ass kicking,

Seifer lunged forward, easily knocking the smaller man down. He made sure he landed with his full weight on top of him to make his point that much more persuasive. Leonhart hit the ground with a stunned "Oomph" as Seifer quickly grabbed smaller but painfully competent hands before they could turn into fists and start swinging.

Squall struggled to get loose, but he was already pinned. The heavier weight of the larger fighter lying on his back held him still. Even after _knowing_ he should expect the unexpected from dealing with the menacing blonde, he was shocked at how quickly he used force tonight. His nightmares usually contained a lot of the blonde prick bitching at him and blaming him for the war. Only occasionally would they actually come to blows - it was almost humorous considering they never talked in real life. In fact, this was actually strikingly genuine which was much more upsetting. The last thing he needed was his nightmare 'Seifers' to adapt to new strategies for torturing him as well as the real one had. Still, he would not be goaded by the ghosts in his head. Not this time. He began to fight free in earnest.

Keeping hold of the agile body beneath him was tricky as it squirmed, but Seifer was going to have his say and Leonhart was going to listen. "Like I said. You are going to show me how to get out of here. I don't give a fuck if you like it or not."

Squall stopped moving beneath him, breathing heavily from his struggles. He was pinned, and Seifer could see the wheels turning in his head, thinking of ways to break free. Seifer was going to tell him to forget about escaping, but Leonhart spoke first, "I won't keep doing this. If you wanted to be saved you should have saved yourself."

Saved? Seifer still didn't have a clue what he was talking about and he was in no mood to ask again, just to get another confusing answer. The curious blonde let go of one of Leonhart's wrists to grab the clipboard he noticed lying on the ground. It looked like Squall had been writing lists.

"Number one, snow covered mountains. Number two, the beach at night. Number three, the pier. What is this shit? Are you a fucking moron now?"

"Get off me." He replied, struggling in earnest again, trying to use his free arm as leverage to flip them over and dislodge Seifer.

"Not-," Seifer grunted, exerting his strength to control the resisting fighter again, "-until you tell me-" twisting the arm he still had until he heard him gasp, "-what's going on" which gave him the opportunity he needed to recapture the lost wrist.

Completely immobilized again, Squall sighed. Obviously, Dr. Kadowaki underestimated the tenacity of Squall's mind to create such a tormenting reality. His subconscious was obviously out to get him and undermine him at every step. Not that he'd give up. He was not going to lose to his own damn subconscious.

Dr. Kadowaki had told Squall to take charge of his dreams, but he was obviously failing miserably at keeping things under control when he was the one pinned to the floor. He decided to feign compliance until he could get Seifer off him. "Fine. What do you want me to do?"

Seifer kept a suspicious eye on the motionless and now seemingly willing brunette lying beneath him. "Why don't you start with the way out of here."

Squall was confused, and tried to turn to look back at Seifer, but Seifer only tightened his grip? Why was Seifer acting so desperate tonight? It was weird and it made no sense. "I don't know what you mean. You don't like it here?"

Seifer's grip got vice hard as he growled, lifting Leonhart's body ready to slam him to the ground. "I'm not trying to piss you off." Squall said quickly with his eyes scrunched shut anticipating his face hitting the ground. Luckily, the angry blonde paused mid-attack to let him explain. Slower now, and with as much emotional sincerity he could muster into his voice, he started again. "I'm not trying to frustrate you. I really don't know how to answer you. It might be that we are both confused. I want to try and help you as much as I can. Please Seifer, let me help you."

He hoped it would work. It was one of the tricks he'd picked up from dealing with Rinoa and the others. Why some people responded to emotional pleas was beyond him. The words were the same either way. Emotions can lie, and often do more than words. Not that Squall was lying, but the emotion was unnatural.

Suddenly, Squall did hit the ground, but his arms were free to soften the blow. Seifer had released him.

The blonde stood up and reached for his blade, but instead of striking him, he just stared at him like he'd grown two heads. "There is something wrong with you. Not that you were ever normal. But you are seriously fucked in the head now."

Squall narrowed his eyes at him. He knew that already. That was the problem. But that didn't mean he needed the tactless prick to keep pointing it out every damn night. Dream or not, if Seifer kept it up, he was going to start communicating with his blade.

"You have gone abso-fucking-lutely out of your mind. You know that?" Leonhart continued to glare at him but said nothing in response. The puzzled blonde just shook his head. He was through with this shit. Seifer sheathed Hyperion and scoffed. What the hell was he thinking anyway that seeing Leonhart would be a good thing? He should have known from the start it was just a new addition to hell.

Well, he didn't have to be a willing participant. He turned and left Squall sitting on the ground. He'd find his own way out.

* * *

Squall was sitting in a chair. A fucking chair. Just sitting there. In the fog. In a chair. And not just any chair. A fucking Garden cafeteria chair, with a fucking Garden single person dining table in front of him. It looked ridiculous sitting there with nothing but the grey mist surrounding it, but he was getting used to ridiculous lately. Normal would be nice. Or how about even one thing that made fucking sense. Apparently, Leonhart had gone crazy and brought furniture along for the trip.

Squall watched Seifer watch him. He was aware that Seifer had been staking him out for a while. Seifer was keeping his distance, but he was definitely keeping an eye on him. It was like he didn't trust him, which would make sense if this was real and not a dream. But it wasn't so… it made no sense.

Normally when Seifer appeared in his dreams, he would harass him, point out failures, bully him, and generally try to make him feel guilty. It had been like that every night since the war ended. But he had never, ever kept his distance and acted suspicious of him. Like Squall was an intruder in _his_ nightmare. Absurd!

Squall huffed in irritation. His own subconscious was beginning to work against him. He knew his mind was figuring stuff out, dealing with the war and coming to terms with his role in it. Dr. Kadowaki explained it all to him. He just wished his mind would do it in a less obnoxious way.

After circling Squall for what seemed like forever, Seifer finally approached. He moved slowly towards the table until one thigh hit the edge of the table hard, upsetting Squall's papers. Squall caught his papers before they fell and rolled his eyes at the blatant alpha-male act. Seifer leaned down, placed both hands on the table and stared straight into his eyes. He was obviously ready for another talk. Fine.

With just a thought, a chair suddenly appeared opposite the table. Squall gestured towards it with a glance.

Seifer raised an eyebrow at the chair, and gave a questioning look to Squall, but sat nonetheless. The blonde leaned back in the chair, running his hands along the sides of the seat examining it thoroughly. It was a perfect replica - incredibly exact. The chair felt so familiar he did what he normally would; he crossed his arms across his chest and put his feet up on the table. "Let's pretend for a moment that you're not out of your fucking mind."

* * *

Squall told Seifer the truth. Why not? It was his subconscious. Somehow lying to his own subconscious seemed like an unhealthy thing to do. Unfortunately, his subconscious was becoming dangerously good at replicating Seifer. Seeing the blonde facsimile sit there so cocky and calculating; acting suspicious and so much like the prick he used to know was doing strange things to his head. It was just like giving a status report to a teammate; as if Seifer made SeeD and had never turned.

Squall would never admit it, but he always looked forward to being on a SeeD mission with Seifer one day as an ally instead of rival. He assumed maturity would eventually calm the bully in him and make him a strong leader. He'd always be an asshole and a prick, but likely a great operative, too. When Seifer failed the SeeD exam and turned, he was shocked at how deeply and personally it affected him.

"So, basically, you think you're dreaming and I'm not real? This is not real?" Seifer asked. He had listened patiently while Leonhart explained why he was acting so fucked in the head. He didn't believe one word of it, but he believed Leonhart believed it. The only problem was, Seifer didn't believe this was really Leonhart.

"….." Squall blinked at him. He often wondered why people felt the need to ask him if what he told them, was what he told them. It had to be a brain deficiency of some kind. In Seifer's case, it made perfect sense.

Seifer cleared his throat and leaned forward in his chair. He planted both elbows on the table and clasped his hands together, laying them only a hairsbreadth away from where Squall's hands were resting. His face was so close now, Squall could feel him breathing. Instinctually, Squall wanted to move away; uncomfortable to have him suddenly so close. But since that would make Seifer happy, he remained stubbornly in place.

Seifer smiled knowingly, like he knew the answer to the Hyne-damned universe, then, unfortunately, opened his big mouth to share it. "You know, when I first got here I'd see things float in and out of existence like ghosts. Mostly monsters looking confused. When I'd swing at them, there'd be nothing. No physical body usually. They'd fade in and out. Sometimes there was a slight impact, but it didn't last long. Nothing lasts as long as you, granted, but you were always a stubborn pain in the ass so that's not surprising"

Squall waited for Seifer to say more, but he didn't. It didn't make sense. "So?" he prompted.

"So, what? That means you're like them."

"You think I'm a ghost?" he asked, like he thought Seifer was the biggest idiot in the world. Which, he did.

"Ghost, memory, vision, whatever. Shit, I don't know!"

"But you touched me!" Squall felt a tinge of embarrassment at the implication of those words. He leaned back in his seat, away from Seifer, and tried to clarify. "You held me down." Those didn't make him feel any better so he scratched the back of his head and examined his shoes.

Seifer nodded. "Yeah, and you also disappeared. Like I said, you were always a stubborn pain in the ass. The way I figure, this is my hell to pay, you're just a part in it." He covered his mouth to cough and said under his breath, "a small annoying one", but Squall heard it. Seifer hadn't really meant for him not to.

Squall gave him an icy look. "Whatever. This is my dream. I control it. I'm the one that can do as I please."

"Oh yeah?" Seifer's tone now matching his. "Then be a good genie and dream me out of here and back into civilization."

Best idea ever. Squall focused for a moment, but try as he might, he couldn't come up with a scene where Seifer would fit. Where did Seifer hang out? Squall couldn't think of any place off hand. Didn't he ever see him anywhere, besides Garden?

After a few moments, Seifer sighed and leaned back in defeat. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

They sat in silence, each in their own thoughts. After a while, Squall vanished.

* * *

Squall found Seifer sitting at the same table in the same chair. That was… different. He ignored him, walked up, sat down and pulled out his lists.

"So, if this is your dream, why don't I disappear when you're gone?" Seifer had a few theories, but he wanted to hear it from pissypants.

"How do I know you don't?"

"I'm not the one who just vanishes, am I? Where do you go when you disappear?"

"…..." Squall was not in an accommodating mood. Running Garden was definitely not the restful office job Cid made it look like. Not that he was one to enjoy sitting around doing nothing, but even he could see the amount of work was wearing him down.

"You know, the furniture stayed this time. How come?"

Squall shrugged. So he didn't have to dream a table into existence this time. So what? It was a little unusual and surprised him at first, but in the end - it's just a table.

Seifer wasn't going to push him to answer, since he knew Leonhart would just turn frigid and he had his own opinions anyway. But he was still going to ask questions. Seifer needed to find out why Leonhart had power to make things appear and feigning interest in the antics of a crazy person was his only option at this point. "So, what's with these lists you're making anyway?"

Squall stared, expressionless, into emerald green eyes that were way too interested in him. He debated whether or not he should answer while he determined the reason for Seifer's questions.

Seifer waited patiently while Leonhart obviously had a one-way conversation going on in his head. He took the opportunity to examine Leonhart's scar. It looked like it had healed quite a bit, but was still very noticeable. He had a strange urge to lick it.

Squall sighed. He decided if he was ever going to get rid of these dreams, he needed to make an effort. "I am supposed to shape my dreams into surroundings that are enjoyable," he paused and stared pointedly at Seifer again, "even if the actions and people in it are not."

"That doesn't make sense." Seifer said, seeing a glaring error in that plan. "Why are you _here_ then? If you can dream yourself into any surrounding, what the fuck are you doing here?" Seifer crossed his arms. Let's see him try to explain _that_. He may have power to make shit, but there's no way it's a dream. Who would choose this hell if they could choose anything?

But Squall just shrugged. "I found it peaceful here after the war." There were no expectations here. No noise, no distractions, just nothing. But he wasn't going to explain that to Seifer.

Seifer stared at him in disgust. Only Leonhart could find a place like this peaceful.

Squall ignored his stupid look, and since he didn't say anything else, he went back to his lists.

When Seifer finally got over his horror, he continued, "You said you've seen me before. Where have you seen me? Here?"

Squall dropped his pen and rubbed his temples. Apparently Seifer wasn't through with him yet. "No."

"Where then?"

Squall sighed. He'd rather have his teeth pulled out than have to answer personal questions. But he needed to be accommodating. Work this out. "Other places." And that was about as accommodating as he got.

"Other places like snow covered mountains and the beach at night?"

"Something like that." But it hadn't been places Squall had thought were nice places. That was before he tried to shape his surroundings. He had been in places like Ultimecia's castle or the desert by Esther. He never chose it, but he could leave. The only problem was each time he left he ended up someplace just as bad. This was the first time he'd tried to create his own surroundings. He chose this, honestly, because it was easiest. He didn't have much of an imagination and this was easy to visualize.

"So, you just hang out there for a while until you get bored of it or something? "

Squall was irritated and tired of answering so many damn questions. "I choose someplace, you're there, you bug the shit out of me, I go somewhere else. That's it. There's nothing else."

"I'm always there?"

He chewed on the side of his lip as he though about denying it. But he'd never be free if he continued to lie to his subconscious. He nodded once.

"It's not me." Seifer huffed. He didn't like the idea of clones of himself being around. He didn't know what any of this meant, but it couldn't be good.

Squall just shrugged.

"So all these lists are you trying to find new places?"

"…." They weren't. But Seifer didn't need to know that.

Seifer narrowed his eyes at Leonhart. He didn't buy it. "That's a lot of fucking writing for someone making a list of nice places they'd like to visit." Seifer didn't believe that was all he was writing. Couldn't be. There was no way he was spending that much time writing about nice vacation spots. "So why haven't you gone to your beach at night? Why are you still here?"

Seifer's tone had taken on a nasty edge, and Squall didn't like it. "You ask a lot of damn questions for someone talking to a ghost."

"That's because, unlike you, I want out of here. This isn't _my_ idea of fantasy land." Things just didn't add up. Finally, Seifer got it. "You aren't there, because you can't. Right?" Suddenly, it made sense. "You're full of shit! You can make stuff appear but you got stuck here. You can't leave either!"

"I can too!" Squall rolled his eyes at his own childish response and rubbed a hand through his hair in irritation. He didn't need to prove anything to Seifer. He said calmly, "I can. I just choose to stay."

Seifer seemed to think about that so Squall went back to his lists, but after only a few seconds, Squall felt green eyes on him again. This time, though, they burned. He could feel them running the length of his body, examining him in a way that felt much more intrusive than Seifer's normal inquisitiveness and left him feeling uneasy. When intense green eyes finally met his, he forgot to breathe.

"You choose to stay,"

Seifer seemed imminently pleased with himself. That was never good.

"Here."

Seifer moved forward again. Much too close. He was staring at Squall with that level of cockiness only Seifer can obtain.

"With me."

Squall didn't like where this was going. He didn't know where this was going, but he knew he didn't like it. There was a tension in the air that he was unused to.

"Right?"

Squall fidgeted. It made him nervous when he couldn't anticipate Seifer's intentions. It reminded him of how reckless Seifer can be and how little Squall knew him.

"You're been here three times, right?" He asked, staring off into space, tapping his finger against his temple. Pretending to analyze. Bastard. He was going to drag this out instead of getting to his damn point, just to make Squall uncomfortable.

"And I don't see you rushing to go anywhere else." He acted like an idea was there, but he couldn't quite grasp it. Maybe a slap to the face would help him. Squall's lips formed a straight line. He was uncomfortable, irritated and the prick was toying with him.

Seifer watched Leonhart squirm. Heh heh. "You like me best."

Squall stared at him in stunned disbelief, but the blonde just smiled victoriously.

"You like me best because I'm the real Seifer." He explained, matter-of-factly.

No. Squall kept coming here because it was easier. Leave it to Seifer to make it all about him. But in a sense, it was. Damnit! He glared at the triumphant blonde. If Squall didn't know better, he could easily be convinced this really was Seifer, because only that cocky son-of-a-bitch could manage to make him feel humiliated and exposed. And also be right.

Squall's irritation at the smiling prick helped him regain his composure. "No, I like you best because you'll shut-up and let me work." Most of the time. Like now would be a good time.

"But you admit you like me best." He said, smirking.

Squall scoffed, but he walked right in to that one. The heat in his cheeks was likely to manifest itself visibly at any second. He imagined a stack of playing cards in front of him, hoping it would distract Seifer's knowing gaze. _As if he could know anything_. Seifer obviously didn't know anything since he was seconds away from getting a fist in his face and didn't seem to know _that_.

Luckily the cards worked. Crisis averted.

"Hey, thanks sweet-cheeks," he said, winking and smiling smugly.

Or maybe not. Squall put cold hands over his cheeks and could easily feel the heat. He really, really hated Seifer.

* * *

Leonhart reappeared at what seemed like a regular time daily. Kinda like he really _was_ waking up and coming back when he dreamed. But that didn't mean anything other than Leonhart believed it to be true and made it happen, just like he could make shit appear.

The table and chairs were still there. He watched him walk over, sit down and pull out his lists.

Seifer fidgeted in his seat. All he ever did was watch Leonhart write or wait for him to show up. He was through with thinking, he wanted to do something. He could either play cards while Leonhart ignored him or he could wander around aimlessly. Neither was appealing.

Plus, watching Leonhart had other inherent problems. The more you watch, the more you are aware of what is not moaning and sitting on your cock. Seifer has never _never_ had to chase anyone. If he ever felt attracted to someone, they were already shaking their ass at him. But Leonhart always looked right past him like he didn't exist. It didn't matter that he treated everyone like that. That was no consolation because Seifer knew he was the best. You couldn't ignore Seifer anymore than you could ignore a knife sticking out of your chest.

"Couldn't stay away, could you?" Seifer said with more arrogance in his voice than he felt.

Squall ignored him. He had better things to do than be annoyed by Seifer, like planning out what the hell to do with these lists once they're done. He actually thought he was making progress with his dreams, too, but Seifer was being insufferable lately. He was smug, irritating, and grating his nerves.

"You always come back for more. Not that I can blame you. They always do," he said, with a self-satisfied smile while leaning back in his chair and resting his hands behind his head. "So what list are you writing today? How many things you like to take up the ass?"

"Number one, I like a snow covered mountain up my ass. Number two. A pier shoved up my ass is always a nice thing. Especially on the beach at night. Number three.

"Stop."

"Or what? " Seifer was itching for a fight. For anything.

"Just stop it."

"What? You like other things up your ass? Just say so. You know, I'd be glad to help you out. Shove my fist right up-"

"Stop it, Seifer. Quit trying to start a fight. Just tell me what you want."

Seifer knew he should stop. Deep in his most private thoughts, the ones he'd never share with anyone, he knew he didn't want to drive this phony Leonhart away. He was bored and pissypants was better than nothing. But, like a car with the brakes cut, he couldn't stop.

"Aren't you sweet. But, we're discussing what _you_ want. Namely, what you want up your ass."

Squall left so fast, Seifer was still saying the 'S' in ass. Apparently, neither one was in a tolerant mood. Fuck it. He wasn't going to let it bother him.

When Squall imagined himself elsewhere, it was instantaneous. But, he had only spent a few moments on a familiar beach before waking up. He was surprised that his time with this Seifer went so quickly.

The brunette ran his hands through sleep mussed hair. He was not upset that yet another dream turned into a nightmare. He expected it would eventually. However, he couldn't account for his disappointment.

* * *

_This was all wrong._

He'd never noticed the wrongness before. But, now, he could feel it and somehow he knew it had been there before.

"How could you just let her take me like that? How could you leave a man behind?"

He wanted to argue. He wanted to say it was his choice. But he'd done that before and recognized the futility of it. He could also see so clearly now that this wasn't Seifer. How could he ever think it was?

"This isn't real," he said, mostly to himself.

"Why didn't you stop her? You could have ended it right away. Why did you let so many people die?"

He didn't know what to think. He didn't know where to go. He needed to think, but-

"Ow!" His hand shot to the side of his face.

Seifer had just smacked him with the side of Hyperion!

"You're not even paying attention to me!"

He removed his hand from his face and saw blood. He narrowed his eyes dangerously. He was not in the mood to take shit from an imitation Seifer. Squall punched him in the nose and knocked his stunned ass on the ground.

* * *

Squall appeared again and Seifer breathed a mental sigh of relief. He wasn't going to apologize, no fucking way, but there were other ways to let someone know that _you know_ you were an ass.

He came to a realization when Leonhart was gone after gaining some inside information. It was actually more like a fucking epiphany. It changed things for Seifer.

He had planned to act nonchalant. Make it seem like Squall came crawling back to him, but then he noticed blood around Leonhart's left eye and a gash near his temple, almost hidden by his hair.

"What the fuck happened to your face?"

Squall never intended to come back here again, but he didn't know where else to go. He didn't know how to wake himself up and this was the most innocuous place he could think of on short notice.

Squall stood there, eyes narrowed, appraising Seifer. He didn't know what to expect and that wasn't exactly, "Hi, how are you?" Seifer was walking towards him, but it didn't look like he had that same antagonistic look he had last time. If it wasn't so ridiculous, he'd say he looked concerned. So it caught him off guard when Seifer grabbed him by the sides of his head and yanked him forward. He quickly grabbed Seifer by the shirt ready to fight and fend off the attack, but it didn't come.

'"Who hit you?" Seifer asked, still holding his head, and pushing the hair away from Squall's cut.

"….." Squall tried to jerk his head free from Seifer's grasp, but Seifer held him firmly. He turned his head, blocking Seifer from getting a better look. He certainly wasn't going to tell him the truth, just to be told he's out of his fucking mind again and he didn't need to see him gloating victoriously either.

"Damn it. Answer me." Seifer shook him to get his attention. "Who did this?" He demanded.

Squall's blue eyes snapped back to green in confusion. He could hear that strange desperation in Seifer's voice, something he hadn't heard since that first day. He couldn't figure out what Seifer wanted from him. His mood changed from one second to the next; hostile or teasing and now that weird desperation again. It didn't make any sense. Seifer was angry, but not at him. Who cared about the stupid cut, Squall wanted to know what was going on. Did he have some knowledge of the other Seifers? Did he know what happened elsewhere, or where they completely independent? Was Squall making progress in his nightmares, or was his mental state actually getting worse. Why would this Seifer be interested in what happened elsewhere when the others weren't? Why did this one seem so different?

Leonhart stared at him, but his eyes were distant; lost in his own thoughts. Seifer obviously wasn't going to get a damn answer anytime in this century. He sighed in frustration and jerked Leonhart's head to the side again so he could see the cut better. It wasn't that bad. There would be a bruise but he's done worse to him and on a regular basis. He could see Leonhart was confused. Seifer hadn't planned on revealing his newly felt position, but Squall's injury threw him. He was never good at hiding how he felt anyway.

At least Leonhart's confusion was making him docile enough for Seifer to get a better look. He had nothing for infection, though. No potions left or even something to clean it with. Seifer entwined one hand into brown locks and used the other to cup Leonhart's face and pull him forward.

Leonhart flinched in shock and his attention was torn from his thoughts to the present when he felt a wet warmth on his cheek. He immediately tried to push away but Seifer held him firmly. His mouth gaped in disbelief as his brain tried to process the fact that Seifer was now licking him. It was- He couldn't- He tried, again, to push away, but felt no strength in his arms. When Seifer finished and pulled back, Squall could do nothing but stare, gaping at him, speechless.

Seifer, never one to let a good opportunity pass him by, sealed warm lips over Leonhart's open mouth. He saw blue eyes go impossibly wide before his own eyes drifted shut. He thrust his tongue in deeply, and when he felt the first slide of Leonhart's tongue against his, he moaned, even if the touch was only the brunette trying to move his tongue away from the intruder. He entwined his fingers more intricately into brown hair and pulled him even closer, angling him for better contact. He was going to take every liberty available to him while Leonhart was stunned and motionless. He knew it wouldn't last long, and he knew he was right when he felt an extremely painful jab in his solar plexus.

He pushed Leonhart down when he reeled back, unable to breathe and was now bent over, both hands on his knees trying to catch his breath. Leonhart was on the ground, but Seifer hadn't pushed him on purpose.

Seifer was gasping for air and slightly worried that it might never come back, but his concern drained when he looked up and caught site of the wide-eyed brunette staring at him from the floor in abject horror. He had never seen blue eyes so disturbed and so alive. When his breath came in, it left just as quickly in laughter. Of all the times he'd tried to get a rise out of Leonhart - he held his stomach in pain - he could have just _kissed him_. Seifer couldn't stop laughing, and he was worried that the lack of oxygen in his brain was going to make him pass out if Leonhart didn't stop looking at him like that. Hyne, he wished he had a camera. Hyne, he hoped he wouldn't pass out. Leonhart might kill him.

All Squall could do was stare in horror. This was _not_ Seifer. He was critically uncomfortable. Death had to be imminent. There were just no words. Seifer had been holding him. Not holding him down, but _holding him_. And _smiling_. And then _licked him_. And then- He just- Squall used all his strength and pushed up from the ground intending on putting more distance between them.

Seifer pulled it together so wouldn't scare Leonhart off again. Okay, so Squall hadn't exactly been putty in his arms, and he wasn't declaring hidden love, or hidden blow job desires, but it was a start. He got some emotion out of him and, he had to admit, it was really fucking funny.

Seifer was still chuckling, but Squall was not amused. He had to know. He needed to understand. There had to be a reason, somewhere, in his subconscious for this madness. "What is wrong with you?"

"What? I was helping you."

"You were- That wasn't-." He glared accusingly. "No, you weren't."

"I was treating your wound so it didn't get infected," he explained, rationally. "Then you went into shock so I, uh, had to resuscitate you." But he could see Seifer holding back a smile.

"I was still breathing," he glowered.

"I didn't want to take any chances." He said, smiling innocently.

Squall scoffed.

"Anyway, how is it you can manage to get injured even in your own damn dreams?," Seifer asked, but it held none of the ridicule it normally would. His tone was only lightly teasing.

Squall said nothing. He just slowly backed away to put some distance between them. Like Seifer was a dangerous lunatic or a wild animal. He was more than likely a combination of the two.

He didn't get very far away when Seifer started to speak again. "Wait , uh–" he stopped, and so did Leonhart.

"What?" Squall asked, apprehensively. He stood motionless, waiting for a response, but Seifer was not acting _at all_ like Seifer, and Squall wasn't so sure he wanted to hear any more.

Seifer scratched behind his ear with one hand which on anyone else, would look like a moment of insecurity. _Don't leave me again._

Squall was beginning to think he was wrong. That this Seifer was no more like the real one than any of the others. But that moment vanished and all cockiness resumed. "Don't go anywhere else again. It's stupid, obviously," pointing to Squall's injury. "Plus, I have a plan. You left behind all your pansy-ass lists," he said with an evil grin.

Squall's eyes widened again. He hadn't meant to leave them. Shit. Seifer did not need to have those lists. Squall glared. Unfortunately, that was _exactly_ like Seifer.

* * *

"So how are your dreams, Squall? Any progress?"

"They're, um" he scratched his head. "They're very realistic." He hated this part. Meeting with Dr. Kadowaki felt like he was accepting defeat. He was inferior. He couldn't do it on his own.

Dr. Kadowaki said he had cut off his emotions from his thoughts for so long that they were bubbling over and affecting him now. Whatever that meant. He asked for a battle plan to fix it, and she said it wasn't that easy. She wanted him to visit her regularly, tell her how he felt and he looked at her like she had asked him to streak naked through the halls of Garden.

She sighed then and told him to make lists. Make lists of places he liked, things he liked, things he wanted to try, things that made him happy.

He could do that. Make lists? Easy. But not on Garden time. He was way too busy. He could think about it while he dreamt, keep lists in his memory, and it would have the added bonus of helping him maintain control of the dreams. Give them a focus. Now he had a strategy. They were finished. Right?

No.

She insisted on keeping track of his progress so he was forced to come back regularly. He didn't have a choice. Running Garden required biannual physicals and continuous psychiatric evaluations. Apparently, you can't control an army of soldiers without making people nervous.

His dreams weren't a big deal and he had originally thought about hiding them, but then she might have sensed he was holding something back and made a bigger deal of it. It was better to just be honest and if she could help get rid of them, all the better. He could use the rest.

"They feel more real now?"

"No, just, it feels like-," he stopped. He did not want to say he thought Seifer seemed more real. "Seifer is more like-." God, he was beginning to annoy himself. "It's just different."

"Is he still blaming you in your dreams?"

"Not… really." No, now he's licking me instead.

"That's good then." She smiled. She wasn't too worried about the dreams. The war and running Garden was a lot to deal with for someone so young. "Squall, you are making progress. Even if it doesn't feel like it."

_Whatever._

* * *

It was those fucking lists that made everything clear to Seifer. Those fucking lists he hated when Leonhart was absorbed in them day after day. Now, he fucking loved them.

They told him everything. Everything he needed to know, _should_ have known. Things that were so fucking obvious now.

They made two things very clear to Seifer.

One was, this _had_ to be the real Leonhart. No way would anything or anybody else be so meticulous and anal over something so asinine. His lists were about shit he liked or shit he liked to do. Should be easy enough to make a list like that, right? How long would it take a normal person? An hour? He spent _days_ on it

Number two, Leonhart wasn't attracted to him because he'd never been attracted to anybody. He was lacking critical components like emotions and nerve-to-brain connections. His lists looked like they were stolen from a child who part-timed as a travel agent. No grown man, after experiencing a blow job, would put ice cream at the top of his list.

So Seifer clearly had two things to accomplish.

He had to prove to Leonhart that he was real. If anyone could help him figure out how to get the fuck out of here, Leonhart could.

And two, he was going to wring out every emotion that Leonhart's luscious leather covered body has been begging him to do for years, until he is gasping and begging him to stop, and then do it again.

And again.

And again.

One day, he would see Leonhart beg him to fuck him, and not just in his head like usual.

But he was lacking some serious emotions. Big ones, like fun, joy, and sexual attraction. Seifer wanted to see what those things would look like on Leonhart.

It made so much sense now. Why the fuck did he ever think that Squall could be screwing someone else? Only Seifer had _ever_ managed to drag emotions out of him. Why did he ever think otherwise? So fucking stupid; his own jealousy blinded him. It was an oversight he was going to fix immediately.

But this place still made no sense. Somehow, when Leonhart dreamed of being here in this place, _he was actually physically here in this place_. Seifer didn't know what that meant, but he was going to find out. Maybe being here after the war gave him some kind of connection. With sorceresses, there were a lot of unanswered questions.

Unfortunately, Leonhart still didn't think Seifer was real. It was frustrating and fortunate at the same time. Seifer wouldn't be able to get his help in figuring out how to get out of here yet, but Leonhart was wide open in other ways he'd never be if he though Seifer was real.

Leonhart had been sitting in his chair for a while and hadn't said a word yet. His arms lay limp, his expression blank, but his eyes were a whirlwind of activity.

Seifer was giving him time.

He obviously didn't want to talk since he hadn't say one word in greeting, or even a nod of acknowledgement, but time was dragging on and he didn't want things to end up like yesterday. He wanted completion; follow-through; consummation. He did not want to make it to the finish line alone again. Although he had been able to relieve himself, it was in no way satisfying.

Seifer's patience was like an hour glass. He was able to wait, but there was a limit and he was fast reaching it. Ding. He was done.

Seifer plopped down on the other side of the table placing himself in Leonhart's line of vision. Squall didn't even blink an eye.

Seifer started. "Look, I get you don't want to talk. That maybe you're confused about yesterday but-"

"That's not it," he cut in, voice flat and emotionless although the storm in his eyes was gaining strength.

"Then what's your fucking problem? Why aren't we-" naked. Fucking like wild animals. "What's with the mute act?"

Leonhart's storm made contact with Seifer's very much aware, one hundred percent corporeal and undeniably real, green eyes. This was Seifer, in the flesh. He shook his head at the logical impossibility of it. The idea was so preposterous he still couldn't wrap his brain around how or why.

But SeeD training taught him to believe in facts, not probability. The facts told him Seifer was real. There was no other way to explain how this Seifer could know things, do things, that Squall couldn't. And Hyne knows he was up half the night trying to find one reason, one half-assed excuse to explain it any other way. His own common sense demanded he try. But, there was only one conclusion. "You're real."

Seifer's heart accelerated significantly at the unexpected reply. It gave him an incredible sense of relief, of_ joy_, he wanted to pick Squall up and spin him around in his arms. He could just picture it, him laughing with happiness while Leonhart smacked him in the face and yelled, "Put me down you jackass!"

That's not what stopped him from doing it, though. The problem was, he couldn't tell how Squall was feeling about it. He couldn't read him at all right now and that made him irritable. He hated Leonhart like this. It made him think that maybe he was wrong. That Squall really was an emotionless fembot. Maybe he only liked him as a 'dream' Seifer and was going to turn back into the frigid bitch Seifer remembered him as. Or, he might just be angry about last night and be fine once Seifer got him moaning again. Seifer's motto was, if in doubt, strike first. "No shit? I've been saying that for weeks. What took you so fucking long?"

Squall tilted his head sideways, raised his eyebrows at him, but said nothing. Not with his mouth anyway. His eyes plainly stated that, it would have been more convincing if he had been, you know, honest and not lying his ass off half the damn time. Then he might have believed him sooner.

"Don't look at me like that. I did tell you I was real from the start. It's not my fault you didn't believe me."

"Not last night," he reminded. Seifer seemed pretty eager to convince him he wasn't real then.

"Fuck, Squall. Don't be such a girl. I was trying to get in your pants. I'd say anything. You know, all's fair in-" shit, he didn't need to bring up extra arguments "-whatever the fuck that saying is."

"…whatever," Squall mumbled dismissively.

"I thought you wanted me alive. Why are you suddenly so pissed off that I'm not dead?"

"I'm not!" he objected. "I'm pissed off that you have Raijin spying on me!"

"Tch. Is that all? It's for your own good, Squall. You're too naïve. You've been lucky so far," he dismissed. "What finally convinced you, anyway?"

Squall yanked down the neck of his jacket in reply, waiting until comprehension set in Seifer's green eyes.

"Holy fucking Hyne!" Seifer laughed, covering his mouth. "That's a lot of hickeys. I can honestly say I don't think I've ever seen that many." Seifer said in awe and not just a little pride. But the brunette did not seem to share in his enthusiasm.

Squall frowned and hastily covered his neck back up. "Everyone saw me. They had questions. Questions I had no answers for."

"Is that why you're being so pissy? I didn't do it on purpose. It's not like I knew they wouldn't go away," he defended, "and I'm sure they've all seen hickeys before. And who even gives a shit about that? What about getting me out of here?" he asked. Or screwing on the couch first and then getting out of here.

"I'm not pissy, you bastard," he replied, icily. "I just feel…" relieved, happy, angry, exposed, betrayed, hopeful, embarrassed. So many things he wasn't used to feeling. He couldn't focus on one. He wanted to stay angry but he couldn't hold on to it.

"What?" He asked impatiently. "You feel what?" Seifer never thought he'd feel this way, but he really wished Squall would just hurry and shut the fuck up. Now that he was reassured the ice prince wasn't returning, he wanted to move on to more enjoyable things. Planning his escape. Screwing on the couch.

"You make me feel…," Squall rubbed his forehead and tried to think of ways to describe it, but couldn't find words. He was happy Seifer wasn't dead, embarrassed that he confided in him, sorry that he was stuck here, angry that he was betrayed and left behind.

Seifer nodded, "Don't worry about it. I get it," he insisted.

The brunette looked at him with doubt and more than a little annoyance. Seifer was conceited beyond belief.

"Trust me. I get it. I make you feel. Period."

Seifer stood up and walked around the table, grabbed Squall by the hand, and yanked him up to standing.

Squall looked up into flaming green eyes that were now inches away. The intensity confounded him and he backed away from it. "You make me feel? You make me feel like punching you." This new side of Seifer, of this completely real Seifer, was baffling to him. "You like doing things to me. Upsetting me. You know you do," he accused.

"What do I do?" he asked, moving in closer again. Seifer could smell -_his_- soap on the brunette. See -_his_- marks on his skin. It made him want to roar and throw him over his shoulder and claim him or whatever the fuck the ancients did. It made him want to lose his fucking mind.

"You piss me off," he said, parting his lips to gain a deeper breath because the look Seifer was giving him stole his last one, "when you're not infuriating me." He grabbed Seifer by the coat although he felt like running, felt like pulling Seifer to him. Felt like wanting to stop feeling for at least five seconds so he could think again.

"What else?" He backed him into the table, smirking at the fact that Leonhart was holding on to him.

"You make me want to hurt another human being. Badly." he said, licking his lips in a way that made it seem he wanted something else entirely different.

"Hmm. I know that feeling. Is that all?" Seifer nuzzled against his cheek, brushing his lips against him lightly.

"You frustrate me," he said breathlessly, already moving his head back, allowing Seifer access to anything he wanted. Wanting to give him everything as soon as possible.

Seifer pushed his hardness into him, "I can definitely relate to frustration."

Seifer lifted him up by his ass and sat him on the table, kissing any skin available to him, and the brunette was being very accommodating. Squall's eyes were becoming distant, his lids heavy. "I think-," he panted, "-I think the least you could-," he choked when Seifer latched on a nipple through his shirt, "-for being such a bastard-," Leonhart was squirming against him, driving him insane, "-is show me-," he gasped, "-show-"

"I would be so fucking happy to show you."

Seifer kissed him and he finally shut up and it was the same Leonhart from yesterday. The one that begs for more and wants to feel everything. The one that makes Seifer want to humbly bow down and do anything he asked.

He couldn't remember why he ever would want to hit him when kissing him was, "Oh Fucking Hyne," Squall's tongue was, "Squall," he begged, "clothes," he begged? He doesn't beg. "All of them," he commanded with amazing masculinity. And then it was worlds better because Leonhart's skin was up against his, setting his nerves on fire, and Leonhart's tongue was everywhere, licking under his choker, tasting his skin, sucking hard and Seifer was walking backwards pulling Squall with him.

When Seifer's leg hit the couch he turned them around and pushed Leonhart back. Seifer meant to follow but he couldn't move. What he had only momentarily felt, he could now see and the image, oh fuck, the image…

Seifer stared in awe. Leonhart with red wet lips, hair splayed out on the cushions like art, arms reaching up saying, "Seifer, please," stunned the fuck out of him. He'd never even seen Leonhart fully naked so he never imagined he'd get to see Leonhart naked and begging Seifer to pleasure him. His wildest fantasies had been painfully inferior to the reality.

Squall was in a lot of discomfort, and from the looks of it, so was Seifer, so he couldn't understand why the blonde was just standing there. Yet there he stood, mouth open, huge erection dripping, not saying one damn thing.

"Seifer? Is it- What's wrong?" he put his hands down and covered himself up with them, frowning, feeling very self-conscious all of a sudden. This was all new to him and he wasn't sure- He was not a self-conscious person by nature but- He knew what was wrong. Everything. I mean, it was really all wrong. He couldn't even see a beginning or an end to everything that was wrong with this. Its wrongness was as vast as the universe. Making a list of the wrongness would take pages and pages. Maybe Seifer was seeing the wrongness, too.

"Hey," Seifer said softly, but Leonhart still looked distant, worrying his lip. "Hey! You can't just fucking-"

Leonhart sat up. "Seifer, maybe we should-"

"No! Fuck no. No, don't get up. Just stay. Just give me a second. I think I almost- Just fucking stay there for one second." He wanted to reassure him, but he was just so close he was afraid of moving. The fact that Leonhart knew it was him, assumed what they were about to do, and not only was allowing it, but wanted it still had him on the edge.

Seifer took a deep breath and pushed Leonhart back down against the couch again. He knew he was impulsive. Seifer could never look past his desire. He didn't even think about what if he got out, who it was he was screwing, who he was now and what the world thought of him. He knew he should want to work on getting out of here, but suddenly getting out of here became insignificant to getting Leonhart off. He had a plan and he wanted to follow through with it. They could work on the other shit later.

He slipped his hands between the cushion and pulled out the gun oil from his cleaning kit that he'd been saving just for this occasion. He handed it to Leonhart.

The brunette looked at him, bewildered. "Gun oil?"

"All you have to do is pour when I tell you," Seifer explained. He then kneeled on the couch maneuvering himself between Leonhart's thighs, spreading them apart in the process. Seifer closed his eyes and took a nice deep breath. It would be embarrassing if this is where it ended. He'd have to kill Squall and since he was so nice to look at and becoming so fun to play with it would be a shame. When he opened up his eyes, Squall was frowning at him.

Seifer grinned. "Just trust me. Your lists are about to become null and void."

He did trust him as much as anyone could trust Seifer, but, "Seifer," he stated plainly, "I've never done this before."

"I know."

No, he meant, "With anyone."

"I know," he grinned, arrogantly.

Squall scoffed. "You can't know that," but the pompous ass probably really did know. He always knew things about Squall that others didn't know, things that there was no way he could have known. Sometimes he knew things about Squall that even Squall didn't know. That was one of a thousand reasons he couldn't stand the bastard. One of a thousand reasons that this was really a bad idea.

One of a thousand reasons he should stop right now except Seifer just licked him from his balls to the tip of his penis, and his back just arched on its own. Wait, what was he just thinking about? It was important but, "Oh," he gasped. Seifer did it again. He was thinking that -oh Shiva, give me strength-. Whatever. It could wait.

Seifer dove down between his legs, sucking him to the root, making Leonhart jerk in shock. He licked and slobbered making a lovely mess, loving the silky texture and smaller feel of the dick in his mouth. It made giving head so much easier, so much fun. He ran his tongue over and over it until the brunette was thrashing, then stopped.

Seifer smiled at the look of death Leonhart was giving him. "Don't worry," he chuckled. "I'm not finished with you. Not until I make you scream."

Leonhart scrunched his eyebrows finding the idea objectionable. Seifer's made him scream plenty of times. It's not fun.

"I meant in pleasure," he spit out, bitterly. He held his hand out, "Just pour, if that's not too hard for you."

Squall rolled his eyes and flipped the lid up on the oil and poured it in the blonde's open hand. This was insane. He was willingly having sex with a jackass that he couldn't stand.

Seifer rubbed slippery fingers together and then slid them deftly between Squall's ass cheeks, reveling in the fact that he was the first conqueror, the first explorer in uncharted land. He wanted to plant his fucking flag in that virgin territory _so fucking bad_, but he needed to wait on that.

Squall began to squirm once he started rubbing his fingers back and forth over the nub. The brunette was trying hard to stay still and keep his body under control. It was fascinating. Seifer watched the emotions flitter across Leonhart's expression. Excitement, trepidation, pleasure, fear. Seifer was entranced by them all. He wasn't normally a selfish lover, but he'd never been so enthralled in someone else's pleasure before.

When Squall's movements seemed to calm some, Seifer sucked him all the way down again and stuck one finger in simultaneously. Leonhart outright screamed.

The blonde smirked with his mouth full. He pumped him with his finger and mouth, and once Leonhart was slamming himself against his one finger, he slipped another one in.

Squall inhaled sharply at the action, eyes brighter than Seifer'd ever seen them. He'd apparently discovered his prostate.

Leonhart threw his hands over his face, and Seifer glared at the action. He'd have to tie him up next time because seeing his reaction was fast becoming Seifer's favorite thing in life.

Seifer got up on his knees, and with his other hand started pumping his own erection. He wanted this to only be about Leonhart, to let him know what he was missing. He wanted to gloat, to make Squall admit that this was better than ice-cream, but he had to fucking come. There was just no way he'd survive if he didn't, and he was becoming tempted to shove another finger in there, and then to take Leonhart. Squall would let him, and fucking Hyne, with his reactions, he'd love it, but he might be in pain tomorrow and Seifer wanted to fuck him more than this one time.

He slammed his fingers in and out in time with sucking him up and down and pumping his own cock. Leonhart was trying to say something, getting desperate and trying hard. It was cute, but Seifer wasn't going to stop. With a delicious groan, Squall came in his mouth and with pumping his own dick and just the fucking idea that he'd just sucked off Squall Leonhart, Seifer came as well.

He crawled up Leonhart and lay next to him, boneless. Surprisingly, the brunette curled around him.

"Fuck Squall. I never thought you'd be like this," Seifer remarked, trying to catch his breath.

"What?" Squall wasn't sure he wanted to know. Seifer's pattern of making him do something then making fun of him for doing it meant he was about to-

"I never imagined you'd be so fucking eager for it," he admitted honestly.

Fucking bastard. He lifted his head up to glare at him. "Are you making fun of me?"

But Seifer actually looked surprised. "Hyne, no, it's fucking-,You have no idea," he said, rubbing Squall's shoulder, pulling him back down.

Satisfied he wasn't getting picked on, or maybe from feeling tired, he laid his head back down. "It feels good," he replied drowsily.

Seifer chuckled. "Yes, it does."

Squall blinked his tired blue eyes in confusion. He couldn't quite figure out why his nightstand looked different to him. The fact that he could hardly see it over the outrageously fluffy pillow his head was sunken into was equally puzzling. It took him a full minute to realize it was because he was in Seifer's bed. Again.

It took him another minute to realize there was no alarm screaming at him to get up.

"Shit!" He threw the covers off and jumped out of bed. He had no idea what time it was.

He hadn't meant to sleep there again. Really. He had only come for clues; to find any hint or sign that would tell him his suspicions were false and that his Seifer wasn't real. But he found nothing. Now his clothes were a mess, he was probably missing his meeting, and he was sore in unusual places.

He threw open the doors to Seifer's closet hoping to find something clean and inconspicuous enough to make it back to his room unnoticed. Everything would seem better once he showered and changed.

Unfortunately, he was finding 'inconspicuous' and 'Seifer' to be non-matching terms. Everything was either colorful, covered in weird prints, or was much too shiny to be considered casual men's wear. Didn't the man own a simple t-shirt?

He grabbed a plain white dress shirt he found hiding inside a suit jacked and threw it on the bed. He pulled his t-shirt off then quickly slipped into Seifer's, and wow, was Seifer really that much bigger than him? The hem was hitting his knees. He always considered them to be roughly the same size. How did he never notice this before? Although, considering how much they fought, that was probably for the best. But, there was no way in Shiva's frozen hell he could walk down the hall wearing Seifer's pants, too.

He stood in front of the mirror he'd found hanging on the inside door of Seifer's closet. The shirt would cover the worst parts of his leather and would have to do, although it did nothing to hide his neck.

_Bastard._

Squall was certain the prick did it on purpose now. He pushed on a dark spot expecting it to hurt, but felt nothing. How could something that felt so good to receive, look so awful? The jackass had knocked him unconscious countless times and left less of a mess than this.

He rummaged through the closet, found a red scarf hanging in the back and quickly wrapped it around his neck. Fortunately it would hide the annoying consequences of his stupid decision to become intimately involved with Seifer, of all people.

He checked one last time in the mirror to make sure he was covered. He threw on his jacket and was out the door before his mind could ponder whether ending up in Seifer's bed two nights in a row was truly due to circumstance alone. He'd rather not know the answer to that right now.

He finally looked at his watch. Okay, not too terrible; there was enough time to shower and change before his meeting. Now, if he could only make it back to his room without seeing-

"Squall!" Quistis yelled, waiving, from across the hall. Squall sighed and stopped to let her catch up. She rushed up beside him, much too alert this early in the morning. "There you are. I went by your room hoping to catch you before the meeting. I was hoping you'd have time to go over…," she stopped, making plenty of time to go over his outfit. He fidgeted nervously then decided it would be best to start walking again, especially if she didn't follow. She quickly closed the gap he was trying to put between them. "Where were you anyway?" She asked.

"I was held up," he said, brusquely. Quistis was the last person he wanted to run into like this. She was much too observant.

"At gunpoint apparently," she joked. "And they took your clothes and left you with these?" He could see her physically smiling at him but her eyes didn't follow. She was probably worried, or maybe just curious, but she definitely wanted a serious explanation even though her tone was teasing. The phony lightheartedness was an effective Quistis technique to get you to talk. And it was harmless - on most days. Squall walked faster.

Quistis dropped her fake smile, narrowed her eyes at him and sped up. Damn her and damn her long legs.

"Squall, is something wrong?" She asked directly when he didn't answer her. She was most likely already calculating the many different scenarios that would leave him looking like this. She would decide he was with someone; then she would want to know who. He knew for a fact that even if she hadn't seen the marks on his neck, she had at least heard about them.

Squall needed to throw her off his trail. He wasn't going to get away with his busy-and-distracted act this time. He needed to reassure her. Reassure her then get the hell away from her.

"Everything is fine. I'm just uncomfortable in these clothes and want to shower and change without being late for the meeting." There. That was the truth at least. Except they were practically running now and she was still looking at him expectantly. "Really, that's all," he tried again. He even threw in one of those smiles that often helped get Rinoa off his back. He was pretty desperate.

Quistis did a double take. "Th-that's - Of course," she stuttered. "Of course you would. Well. Okay. See you at the meeting, then." She smiled genuinely this time. "Squall."

Squall nodded and left her behind. He needed to remember that smiling-for-Quistis thing for the budget meetings. He breathed a sigh of relief although he actually did have one thing, "Quistis!" he called after her.

"Yes?"

"When we were lost in time, how did we get out?"

Quistis' brows furrowed as she stared in the distance, trying to remember. He waited while she thought about it and after a short length of time, she finally answered, shaking her head. "Honestly, I really don't know. I never thought about how."

"That's ok," he replied. He couldn't blame her for not thinking about it. He didn't either and Irvine and Selphie had given him similar answers. It bothered him that none of them questioned how. They just took for granted that they did.

"Call Rinoa. She might know." She offered helpfully.

Oh. That was a good idea, although not a very enjoyable one.

"Why are you thinking about it now?" she asked.

He shrugged and walked away. He felt a little guilty for continually brushing off people that cared for him and only wanted to help, but of all people, Quistis was much too perceptive for Squall to be around right now.

* * *

"Seifer, listen to me," he grumbled, pushing the blonde's face away for the umpteenth time.

Seifer frowned, thwarted again. "I _am_ listening," he complained. "I can lick you and listen at the same time."

"But I can't talk," he complained. The blonde was insatiable and Squall had to accept the horrifying fact that he was extremely easy, and that made for very slow progress.

Seifer saw an opening where Squall's shirt had ridden up his body but Squall noticed it first. The childish ass bent down grinning like cat about to catch his prey when Squall grabbed him by the ear, the sides of his own mouth rising when Seifer glared at him. Squall rubbed his ear softly in consolation, and then his fingers became curiously attracted to short blonde hair. As he sifted through Seifer's hair, he thought about how trying to stop the blonde from feeling him up was a lot like sparring only…

Only Seifer was looking at him in that way again. That way that made Squall's skin feel tingly and hot. The one that made it hard to breathe and made him feel like he'd been recently knocked on his ass. Hard. It made Seifer look just as cornered as Squall felt. It was an awful feeling, so why did he get the feeling he kind of liked it?

Movement behind Seifer jarred Squall out of his thoughts. The fog was flowing behind them in currents. Spinning around, tangible and strange and he furrowed his brows in effort to figure out why until the movement just stopped.

The moment broken, he returned his focus to Seifer. The blonde had already moved back against the couch, apparently acknowledging defeat and accepting his call for a temporary cease fire. The ex-knight was looking off at nothing. "Squall, did it ever occur to you that it might be a bad idea for me to go back?"

No. Squall was beginning to like the idea. "Don't be stupid. You always say you want to leave. Did you just see that?" he asked, pointing out at the fog.

Seifer reached over and grabbed his pointing finger and pulled Squall onto his lap, grinning when Leonhart allowed it and even straddled him on his own volition. He was allowed so many things here.

"Things haven't been so bad lately," Seifer explained. He knew they probably wouldn't be like this, act like this, if they were out there. "And I don't see shit. What are you talking about? "

"The fog. Did it look like it was moving to you?"

Seifer sat up and searched the fog, tightening his arms around the brunette in the process. "You mean like you saw something out there?" He didn't like the idea of a visitor. There was no way that could be a pleasant fucking turn of events.

"No, the fog itself. It looked like it was moving. Spinning."

"Huh." He couldn't think of any reason it would do that and it wasn't moving now. The fog was puzzling and had played many tricks on Seifer's eyes but nothing dangerous so far. "I didn't notice." He sat back again, relaxing his grip on the reason for his constant erection and instead ran his hands up the sides of leather clad thighs.

"Seifer," Squall sighed, more in pleasure than frustration Seifer noted with satisfaction. "We have to talk."

"So talk already," but he was staring at Leonhart's thighs, more interested in listening to the delicious sound his hands made as they rubbed against leather.

Squall stilled his hands, covering them with his own. Both sets now rested motionless on Leonhart's thighs. Squall waited until Seifer looked him in the eyes. "What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not fucking afraid of anything!" Seifer protested, yanking his hands away. "I'm just not in a rush to get put in prison." Seifer had very recently done a one-eighty in his quest to get the fuck out of there. He couldn't deny the main reason was sitting in his lap. When he was wandering around aimlessly, he could think of nothing but leaving or dying. But now… Could you blame him? Who wouldn't want to stay in paradise where your every wish could be granted and the grantee looked like Leonhart?

Leonhart leaned forward and placed both hands on the head of the couch, on either side of Seifer's head, then stared him straight in the eyes. "No one would put you in prison," Squall assured. He was trying to be comforting and convincing. All boss like. It was sort of cute. Okay, it was _really_ cute, but it wasn't working.

"Oh yeah? Says you. Mr. Oblivious. I know this may come as a shock, but you're not very reassuring. I mean, who's going to protect me? You? 'Cause no offense but you're kinda small and that hair alone-"

"Shut up, Seifer," Leonhart snapped. "No one would go against my decision. It wouldn't be worth it to make enemies of Garden and the most powerful country on the planet just to put you in prison."

Seifer raised an eyebrow at him, incredulous. "Have you been on the sauce again?"

Squall leaned back, apparently so he could glare more effectively. "Is it possible for you to stop being a jackass for one minute? Do you have any idea how many people try to get me to talk everyday? The one person I actually want to talk to either won't shut up, can't stay on topic, or won't keep his hands off me!"

"Just tell me who the bastard is and I'll kick his ass." Seifer promised, slipping his hands under Leonhart's shirt, knowing full well he was frustrating the brunette to dangerous levels.

Leonhart closed his eyes and started doing those stupid breathing exercises again which meant Seifer might get smacked in the face at any moment. The blonde grabbed his hands, linking their fingers together tightly, mostly for his own protection but the intimacy felt good. Holding hands also seemed to calm the aggravated lion since his breathing was slowing down. Figures. He was such a girl.

Leonhart finally opened his eyes and sighed. "Seifer," he started softly, "I understand being an idiot and a liar makes it hard to believe, but I really _am_ commander of Garden. And as it turns out, my father is Laguna Loire of Esther."

Squall was looking at him so earnestly, Seifer tried to keep a straight face, but he just couldn't. "You are so full of shit!" Seifer laughed.

Squall sighed, giving up. "It doesn't matter anyway. I still don't know how to get you back to Garden and getting it here has been a disaster." Squall said, referring to the mess he'd made trying. There was a door here a shrub there, a few walls and desks scattered about.

Seifer chuckled. "How is it possible that someone who spends so much time in their own damn head can't visualize a fucking thing?" Seifer wrestled his hands free and used the opportunity to slide them under white cotton again, and up a firm, enticing torso.

Squall's eyes fluttered shut. "I don't know. I can imagine the beach. I did it before." If he couldn't figure out how to get Seifer out, maybe he could make it better for him here. He squirmed in the blonde's lap when Seifer rubbed a calloused thumb over one nipple. He really should stop him, and he would, in a minute. Maybe.

"How did you and the kiddies ever manage to get out of here?" Seifer asked, sliding his hands down and around to the most perfect leather covered ass he'd ever had the pleasure to feel up, pulling the brunette tight to him, until their bodies were pressed firmly together. He pulled Leonhart's ass in even more, shoving the front of the now straining leather into his abs, and then pushing down rubbing that ass on his matching desire. Hopefully Leonhart would get the point.

"What?" Squall asked, with eyes closed and brows furrowed, his face inches away from the blonde's. Seifer smiled at his confused expression. He fucking loved how fast Leonhart could forget everything and be consumed. He always expected the pissy bitch would need hours of foreplay just to melt the ice long enough so your dick wouldn't freeze off.

"Nothing," he dismissed, smirking.

"Okay." Squall kissed him, wrapping both arms around his neck.

Kissing Leonhart was fucking amazing. The kid was aggressive in ways that Seifer had never experienced before. Other partners were hesitant, as afraid of him in bed as they were out of it. Leonhart was never hesitant. Seifer liked it.

Leonhart grabbed him by his hair yanking his head sideways for a better angle. Leonhart did whatever the fuck he wanted and Seifer liked it. A lot.

Squall mimicked the way Seifer had moved him by pushing forward, then down on to Seifer's erection. Hyne, he was a fast learner. Seifer helped by keeping his hands on Leonhart's ass, letting him grind until he thought he was going to die.

Seifer pulled away, breathing heavily. He wanted, "Squall," he just needed, "Squall," he pushed him back so he could make eye contact. "I need to fuck you." As in, "Right now."

"Then do it," the brunette commanded. Seifer stood up taking Leonhart with him, holding him up by his ass because unless someone killed him, he wasn't letting go of it any time soon.

Instead of protesting being carried like a girl, Squall wrapped his legs around the blonde and kissed him harder. Desire apparently trumped pride in a hungry lion. Good to know.

Their journey from couch to table was more than a little ungraceful as Seifer had trouble walking, holding, and feeling up Leonhart all at the same time. They did a lot of swerving and stumbling, but Seifer was determined to make it the damned Garden table. He was going to give it some real purpose, unlike writing stupid lists, and as an added bonus, lunch would never be the same for Commander pissypants.

The blonde grunted when his legs impacted the table a little too hard then sat the brunette attached to his tongue ass down on it. He finally, reluctantly, let go of said ass and pushed the brunette's chest to make him lie back. He lifted Leonhart's legs, placing his feet on the edge. Squall was leaning up on his elbows, softly panting. Beautiful.

"Spread your legs." Seifer ordered, and surprisingly Leonhart did without question. Good. So very good. He fucking loved how amenable Squall was towards sex.

Seifer placed himself between Leonhart's legs and slid the brunette's jacket off his shoulders to rest open, pooled at his elbows. Perfect. Just like in his fantasies except… He fisted the front of Squall's t-shirt. "Take this off, just this. Leave the jacket," he said, tugging on the white stretchy cotton. It was gone, just like that, with only Griever and a slight flush decorating his chest.

Seifer licked his lips in anticipation. "Now the pants. But leave the belts," he added, quickly. "These ones," he said, tugging on the two belts crossed at his waist, and suddenly everything else was gone. The brunette was obviously in just as much as a hurry to get fucked as he was to fuck him. Seifer smiled. "Good."

Seifer had imagined taking Leonhart just like this so many times, he couldn't even count. The jacket - the belts. Usually it was on a classroom desk, while they were actually in class, but fuck…

Squall spread his bare legs further apart, sending a message straight to Seifer's cock, causing it to jerk and causing Seifer's control to wane. "Gun oil," he demanded thickly.

Seifer squeezed the bottle that appeared in his hand, letting it pour down Leonhart's erection, on, in and between his ass and drip off the table into a greasy puddle on the floor. He used the whole bottle. He didn't give a shit if he made a mess. He was in a hurry and he didn't have to clean it.

He coated his fingers and slipped one in while his other hand enjoyed Leonhart's naked torso. "More," Leonhart demanded, already becoming overwhelmed.

Seifer complied, slipping a second in. He bent his fingers and knew he found what he was looking for when Leonhart jerked.

Sweat was forming on Squall's forehead as his body moved on the blonde's fingers. Seifer knew he should wait, but the way Leonhart was fucking down impatiently on Seifer's hand made it intolerable. The blonde fisted Leonhart's dick, pumping while he slipped a third finger in. "Ugh," Leonhart gasped.

"Want me to stop?" Seifer asked, voice rough.

Leonhart shook his head. "You do-" he panted, "-and you die," but he didn't look very menacing naked with his eyes closed.

Seifer chuckled, "Yes, Sir, Commander."

Seifer moved to drop his pants but he wasn't wearing any. Other than a SeeD jacket left open to bare his chest, he was naked. Seifer was surprised at the jacket, since he never made SeeD and didn't own one, but he didn't give a shit what he was wearing at this point. Leonhart could put him in a clown suit if that's what got him off. All he cared about was getting inside the piece of art panting for him on the table.

He pulled Leonhart towards him, threw his feet over his shoulders and gently pushed in as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his brain lost all functions. Oh. Fucking. Hyne. Why didn't he do this years ago? Why didn't they do this every day? What the fuck was wrong with them that they only started this now? He was beginning to doubt this was real again. It was too perfect. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he was dead. Maybe this was heaven? Maybe this was-

"Seifer!" Squall startled him out of his daze.

"Eh?" He couldn't imagine what he did to piss the brunette off in the last five fucking seconds but there it was, Leonhart's patented death glare while Seifer was balls deep in him. It was surreal.

"Move!" he demanded impatiently like Seifer was his hired help and frustratingly too dumb to handle simple tasks. Seifer gaped at him. Of all the hypocritical bullshit- How many times has he waited while pissypants was stuck in his head- He couldn't give him two seconds to-

Seifer narrowed his eyes. "My pleasure," he responded. He pulled out then grabbed Leonhart by the belts and thrust in deep and - fuck. He might still be pissed but his dick had never been happier.

"Yesss," Squall hissed softly. Just loud enough to make Seifer lose his fucking mind again. Luckily, his hips had a mind of their own and what they wanted to do was fuck Leonhart hard.

Squall already felt like he was burning up alive and Seifer had only just started. If sex was this good the first time, what would a second time be like? Would sex be like this every time? With anyone, or just Seifer?

"Oh, fuck. Squall, it's-." The blonde was thrusting and pounding against him and Squall only managed to stay on the tiny table by the large hands gripping his belts. "You, yeah, oh-" He loved the feeling of being restrained by Seifer and being fucked by Seifer much, much, more than was probably sane. "Good."

Seifer needed to shut-up. It was driving Squall crazy. Squall was writhing and sweating and there was a scorching fire shooting down his spine, wrapping around his body straight to his dick, which already hurt so hard. He was dizzy from being barely able to breathe and he frantically needed to come.

He finally lay back against the table, allowing his head to hang off the edge and grabbed himself- Oh fucking, thank you Shiva- this is what he needed. He worked his hand around his dick as he ran his other hand down his chest and, oh yes, why didn't anyone ever tell him something could feel this good?

"Fuck, Squall. Are you trying to fucking kill me?" Seifer panted, but Squall wasn't doing anything to him so he ignored him. He was lost in the tidal wave building up inside him. He felt it coming and knew he should mention it, "Unh, Seifer. Harder. _Yes_." Well, he tried and then he was too lost to think.

Seifer could feel the brunette squeezing around him, pulsing, ripping the air out of his lungs. He was pushed in as deep as he could get and his hips were still trying to push in deeper. Without warning time lagged, and he was watching everything in slow motion. He watched Squall pump himself and he could see the come dripping slowly down Leonhart's hand, and he wanted to lick it. He could see the sweat dripping slowly down Leonhart's neck, and he wanted to lick that, too. It wasn't until if felt like he slammed into his body that he felt unwavering pleasure shooting through every nerve of his body.

After the buzzing in his brain dimmed to a tolerable level, he noticed the fog was moving. It was just like Leonhart said; nothing in the fog, just the fog itself. He would have said something if he could speak and the body on the table didn't look so inviting.

Seifer draped himself over Leonhart, who in turn wrapped him in legs and arms. The blonde hummed in approval, then licked lazily on the neck beneath him satisfying at least one of his earlier desires. The table, however, had to be uncomfortable. "The beach is good. And a bed," he murmured into his neck.

"Don't mark me," Squall warned.

Seifer chuckled darkly. "What? No love confessions? You gave me your virginity. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Squall scoffed. "Just don't mark me."

"Fine. I won't mark you," Seifer lied, as he set out to do just that.

Squall felt good. Good everywhere but his back. The beach would be good and he did imagine it successfully before, when Seifer pissed him off that time.

When they were young, they used to play on that beach. Squall would sit for hours staring out past the waves, into the horizon. He imagined one day sailing off to see what was beyond the horizon. He never thought he'd end up seeing the entire world and having to save it from the bastard lying on top of him. Now all he wanted was to save the bastard.

Squall pushed the thought from his mind, and focused on his vision.

And then he woke up. Someone was pounding on his door.

No, not his. Seifer's door, he remembered. There were no excuses to comfort himself with this time. He sighed. Whatever. He still didn't have time to think about it because the pounding wasn't stopping.

"Shit." He sat up and pushed the hair out of his eyes. The pounding got harder. It wasn't just a mistaken room then. Someone knew he was there.

There was no way this could be good. He glanced at the curtain covered window and saw no light coming through it. It was still dark outside. He pulled his pants on and answered the door.

There were several likely suspects who would intrude like this, but not one of those likely suspects would be Fujin, who was now on the other side of the door, glaring at him. "BOARDROOM."

This didn't bode well.

* * *

Squall sat at the head of the table, in the largest chair, feeling like the smallest person in the room. He'd need to remedy that. He didn't like surprises and this reeked of mutiny. There was a reason he was Commander of Garden and it wasn't the fact that he was a pushover.

"This better be good." He narrowed his eyes at the occupants in the room. Quite a few of them squirmed in their seats. Good.

"Squall," Quistis soothed, "we're not here to fight with you. We're just concerned. We're worried about you."

"There's nothing to worry about," he dismissed.

"The facts state otherwise,' Irvine interjected.

"What facts?" Squall asked, indignant.

"Raijin, here, says you've slept at least the last few nights in Seifer's room," Irvine explained slapping his hand on the large man's shoulder, earning a look of warning from Raijin for it. "And Fujin came to us last night saying you've been giving Raijin weird messages." The cowboy put his hand next to his mouth and lowered his voice. "from Seifer." As if everyone in the room didn't just hear him. Idiot.

"CRAZY." Fujin nodded, glaring at Leonhart. He glared right back at her. He would not be intimidated.

Quistis turned to Fujin. "Okay, we understand your point of view, and you've given us your testimony. You can go." Quistis dismissed the white haired-girl quickly. Squall couldn't approve of the decision more.

Fujin stood up angrily and stormed out, casting one last withering glare in Squall's direction. It was so much like Seifer that Squall wondered what other traits his friends had inherited.

Quistis sat quietly, obviously waiting until she heard the door slam shut to start the meeting again. "Squall, is it true you gave Raijin a message that you signed as Seifer?"

Shit. He knew that was a bad idea. He firmed his lips into a straight line.

"We're not accusing you of anything. We're just trying to understand what's going on. Please, Squall," Quistis entreated. "You've been acting, differently."

"To be honest, you're driving everyone crazy," Irvine drawled, interrupting again.

"What?" Squall asked, surprised. He had been avoiding everyone, so how could he be doing anything to anyone? And when was Quistis going to dismiss the cowboy? He was next, right?

"It's true, man. I mean, you're usually so… reserved," Irvine explained. "But those hickies, man." He stopped to clear his throat. "And now you're goin' around smilin' at people and your walk has gotten a little, uh, more pronounced," he cleared his throat again, "let's just say that you're even makin' us straight guys a little excitable."

Selphie and Quistis were fanning themselves and Zell was examining the back of his hand intensely. Irvine started whistling and Raijin fidgeted in his chair. No one would make eye contact with him. It made no sense. What did smiling have to do with Seifer? Did they change topics?

Squall shook his head. "I don't understand," he admitted.

"Oh, Squall, it's just so cute!" Selphie squealed. "You'll just be sitting there! And you don't even notice half the room already drooling and then you make these faces-"

"Selphie," Quistis interrupted her, cheeks tinged in pink. "Let's just stick to the facts, shall we?" she said, straightening the papers in front of her.

"It is a fact," Selphie huffed, slouching in her chair. She crossed her arms and pouted.

A knock at the door interrupted the meeting, as Dr. Kadowaki entered the room. "Oh, good," Quistis sighed, sounding relieved. "Good morning Dr. Kadowaki. That means all non-essential people can leave now."

"Thank you, thank you!" Zell exclaimed to the heavens with hands clasped. Squall didn't blame him for being excited to leave.

Irvine reluctantly shuffled Selphie out with him, but Raijin stayed. Apparently, the real meeting was beginning.

* * *

The phone rang several times before the young woman answered. "Squall, is that really you?"

"How do you do that?" he asked her, yet again.

"I'll never tell," she replied, pleasantly. That was a good sign. Maybe she was over being mad at him. "Now tell me, what is going on over there!"

Squall cringed inside. Of course she would have already heard. Quistis was now Commander.

The official statement was "Commander Leonhart, of Balamb Garden, has relinquished his position to fill a critical post as Captain of the Guard. Vice Commander Trepe has been promoted to Commander."

It was believable, made sense, was technically correct and therefore made everyone happy.

However, the gossip was that Squall was recovering from a broken heart and needed time to recover, and for some reason, that must be huge news for the cadets and SeeDs of garden if even Squall was aware of the gossip.

Everyone was busy speculating on who could have broken his heart since Rinoa Heartilly was known to have left months ago. How his love life could be of any interest to anyone was completely beyond him. He certainly didn't care to know the details of anyone else's.

The actual truth was, Squall came up with the idea himself when he realized he wouldn't have to be analyzed and watched so closely if he wasn't Commander. It was such a perfect idea, he wished he'd thought of it a year ago.

Still, it was a momentous decision for him. It was the first time he had ever chosen his personal desires over duty. What that meant, he didn't really want to know. He didn't want to think he was allowing himself to fall below standards and expectations. He also didn't want to admit that Seifer was a big reason why he was doing it. Even to himself.

Unfortunately, he did still have to explain what he'd been up to until then since his behavior in question happened while he was still Commander.

It was, unsurprisingly, less comfortable to tell the three of them than it was to tell his uttermost rival. Regardless, just like Seifer had, they didn't believe him.

But what could he do? He had to tell the truth. It was a formal meeting. He would be reprimanded or worse if they found out he was lying.

And maybe he was feeling a little vindictive as he spelled out exactly what he'd been up to with Seifer. Every last bit of it. Raijin was severely uncomfortable as Squall explained the physical aspects.

Quistis had been unable to look at him without turning red. Squall wasn't sure why she was so embarrassed. She wasn't ordered to give the details of her sexual activity.

Dr. Kadowaki seemed pleased with his honesty, if not a little worried about his Seifer fixation. Still, she thought Squall was capable of service, would be fine and thrive in the new position, and was happy to have a more cooperative patient with Quistis. No doubt Quistis would make an ideal mental specimen.

Squall was diagnosed as being fixated on Seifer and asked to refrain from spending anymore time in his old room, but was otherwise fit to serve.

Seifer's possessions would be packed up and his room reassigned. That was fine. He still had access to Seifer himself, and they'd all see he wasn't crazy once he figured out how to bring the man back. Hopefully, Rinoa could help him with that.

"I'm going to take over as Captain."

"Yes, I've heard that. But what's really going on?"

"That's it. Really. I was just tired of dealing with the hassle of being Commander. I have… other things I want to do now."

There was a pause while she seemed to process that. "Okay, Squall. If you say so."

"Rinoa, when we were lost in time. How did we get out?" he asked, getting back to the point of his call.

"Oh, that's easy. Love, silly."

Sadly, it seemed Rinoa was going to be no help at all. "Okay, Rinoa. Thanks for your time."

"No, Squall. No. You are not getting off that easy. Do you hear me?" He tried to answer but she cut him off "Love, Squall. L-O-V-E. You know that four letter word you are so reluctant to discuss? Are you listening to me?" She was definitely starting to sound a little agitated.

"Yes, I hear you."

"I KNOW you hear me, but are you listening? We all LOVED each other, Squall." Yeah, that was agitation.

"Okay." Apparently, she didn't want to stop until she turned a little agitation into a full blown tirade

"No, don't do that. Don't brush me off! I mean it. This is exactly what I was talking about. Your lack of ability at recognizing LOVE. All of you! It's like an epidemic over there. It's like you don't see it, or can't, or won't."

Shit. He had an appointment in ten minutes. He would definitely be late. "Okay."

"Don't. UGH!" She groaned. "Just don't. You know what? I'm coming over there."

"No, that's-"

"Don't tell me NO, Squall. Something's going on. I'm coming." She hung up the phone.

Squall hung up the phone and rubbed his temples. This had been a very stressful day and that was not the ending he was hoping for. He fell on his bed and closed his eyes hoping to tell Seifer.

But he didn't dream of Seifer again that night, or any night thereafter. It was over. And Squall was left with the emptiness and no reason as to why it ended.

Quistis was busy with her new role. As Commander. She kept repeating the title over in her head, still giddy with the sound of it. Commander Trepe.

She really loved Squall - adored him completely - but he never appreciated or even wanted the opportunity Cid gave him. In fact, Squall seemed completely burdened by the role.

Quistis shook her head in disbelief just remembering the day she'd heard what Cid had done. Just because Squall had managed to run Garden successfully in the war didn't mean he had the day-to-day management skills a full-time Garden would require. Nor would he want them! Saving the world didn't automatically make you a good administrator.

Not that he didn't do an excellent job. In fact, he surprised her by being extremely capable. However, it was obvious he only did it out of obligation. He had no love for the position.

Quistis wasn't an overly ambitious person, but at least she respected the title and had the desire for it. She had a million ideas on how she could improve Garden and couldn't wait to get started.

Fortunately, Squall did seem to like his new job as Captain - a fighting position that made sense for him. He wasn't actually bursting with joy but then again, was he ever? Even after he'd won the war he seemed moody and withdrawn. At least Quistis didn't have to beg and cajole him to work with other people anymore. He actually seemed eager to fight every day. He was up at the crack of dawn, training until exhaustion.

He also seemed to be playing the role of the heartbroken ex-commander without even trying to, which, as luck would save him, was working out in his favor. He was completely unaware that there were a myriad of SeeDs lining up, hoping to be next to win the ex-Commander's heart. As if it were a prize easily had, Quistis huffed. Even the oh-so charming and perfect Rinoa Heartilly had tried - and failed, Quistis noted with just a tiny amount of satisfaction.

But for now, people left him alone to mend in peace. Even the gossip lovers gave him space while still trying to guess who the ex-lover might have been.

Hyne help him when they think he's mended.

The three who knew the real reason behind Squall's erratic behavior were thankfully keeping tight lipped. Dr. Kadowaki kept all her patient's information confidential, so that was easy. What was shared in the meeting was already private.

And Quistis trusted Dr. Kadowaki's evaluation. It made better sense than the crazy scenario Squall described. Quistis knew that she needed to guard that particular story from the public. The potential for damage to the reputation of Balamb Garden was high, but even higher for poor Squall. If word got out that he was imagining such things about someone considered to be an enemy of the world.

Such erotic things…

Quistis stopped reading the notes from the meeting and used them to fan herself. Never in a million years would she have imagined that her quiet and serious Squall was capable of such fantasies; and about Seifer Almasy of all people!

She pushed her glasses up her nose with a small embarrassed smile. She'd had her share of fantasies starring each of them, finding both men extremely attractive. Honestly, who hasn't?

But the idea of them together was preposterous. Anyone who had been around the two of them would agree that it was absolutely impossible. Seifer and Squall doing anything other than fighting? Ridiculous! Squall actually letting someone seduce him would be a miracle on its own. But letting Seifer? Seriously, could you even imagine it?

_…as Squall's arms wrapped tightly around Seifer, as Seifer's tongue roamed deep between Squall's moaning lips. As Squall gasped each time the blonde thrust deeper, their sweaty, muscular bodies gliding and pounding-_

Oops! Quistis knocked the file on the floor with her elbow and couldn't see where the papers scattered. She must have pushed her glasses too close to her eyes; they had fogged up again.

She righted the folder of papers on her desk and sighed at the contents. People would surely think Squall was crazy if word got out. Raijin may not be the brightest staff member, but at least he was loyal and wouldn't say a word. The only person he was more loyal to than Garden wasn't here anyway.

Oh Seifer.

Raijin had seemed more upset that Seifer wasn't really coming back than by Squall's bizarre story. She had never really gotten along with Seifer, but she could still understand how Raijin felt. Seifer had been an arrogant and intolerable jerk, but even Quistis missed him.

But Squall? Everyone knew he couldn't stand Seifer. It was insane. She shook her head. What Squall told them had to be from stress - or exhaustion - or guilt.

Although, you don't get love bites from guilt. How he managed that was still a mystery.

Still. It was ludicrous. Preposterous. It just wasn't possible. Period.

* * *

Seifer Almasy awoke surrounded by the voices of several women speaking a language he didn't recognize. He couldn't remember why he was there, where he was, or how much fun they'd probably had getting there. He felt like he'd been burned alive and he could only remember water. Lots of water. He slid his fingers next to his leg searching for the hilt of Hyperion. Fuck.

He tried to open his eyes, but some cold, wet thing was covering them. It felt good on his heated skin, but not being able to see pissed him off.

At least they were taking care of him and not attacking him; for the moment. But who the fuck were these women and, more importantly, how hot were they and were sponge baths part of the deal?

"Nnghuh," he groaned, but they only paused briefly before continuing their busy babbling. Apparently they didn't speak pained-and-dying either.

He felt a moment's panic as the heavy burden of maintaining consciousness started dragging him down again. Where the fuck was Hyperion? The voices faded out, and things became quiet as something bizarre passed through his lips.

"Squall."

* * *

Squall threw himself into his new role as Captain of the Guard. He had little else to do anyway, and the training left him exhausted and sore enough he couldn't feel the aching knot in his chest so much. Any amount of pain was more comforting than the thought that he might have lost Seifer in the fog. The blonde was a prick but he didn't deserve to die like that.

So, when the door chimed, Squall opened his door expecting a visit from one of the soldiers in his command, not the armful of pretty brunette that he had.

"Squall! It's so good to see you!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. "And why do you look so surprised? I told you I was coming!"

Squall hugged her back. Rinoa smelled like expensive perfume and everything on her jingled like bells - her purse, her bracelets, her shoes. On anyone else it would be irritatingly stupid but on Rinoa, it worked.

"That was two weeks ago, Rinoa," he reminded her.

Rinoa smiled happily and gave him a peck on the cheek then pulled away. She looked genuinely happy. Squall was glad for that.

"Oh, I know. But I had to shop and pack." She kicked her heels off by the door and bounced into his living area, making herself comfortable on his couch. "Now, tell me everything!"

Rinoa brightened the room. She brightened any room she was in. It was one of the many reasons she was attractive to every single person around her. Even Squall wasn't immune. She just made everything seem better.

"You already know what happened," he reminded her, pressing the button to shut his door.

"I know what they said on the news and I know what you officially confirmed," she glared at him pointedly, then turned serious again. "But what I don't know is why? And what does it have to do with being lost in time?"

There was no way he could tell her the truth. To tell anyone would be embarrassing, but to tell Rinoa would be fatally awkward. However, if there was even a small chance she could help him find Seifer, then he owed it to him to try. He could at least tell her some things. Of course, he had to convince her he wasn't crazy first. So far he was zero for three and he had no burning desire to make that four.

"Oh come on. Please Squall?" she begged. "I want to help - I need you to need me for something. Anything! I just - I really missed you... all of you. Give me something to do. Let me help you."

"Alright," he agreed, reluctantly, forcing his body to move into the same room as the surprised girl. Apparently, she expected to be turned down flat. But, he was getting nowhere on his own. Still, the idea that he was willingly walking into personal conversation made his head hurt. Why he did the things he did for Seifer was beyond him. The prick certainly didn't deserve it.

Rinoa smiled at him and sat up straight, ready to listen, ready to solve all his problems. He stood across the couch from her, crossed his arms and placed one foot back against the wall. He leaned back and stared at the floor. He really didn't want to do this again, but, "It's Seifer."

"Seifer?" she repeated, incredulous. Apparently, this was not the answer she was expecting. That meant she hadn't made the rounds yet or she would have already heard about the strange places he'd been sleeping. At least he wouldn't have to answer those questions. Yet.

"I had these dreams and… I think he might be lost in time," he explained, lifting his eyes to gauge her reaction.

"What kind of dreams?" she questioned, brows furrowed in confusion.

The kind where I couldn't stop myself from letting him do whatever he wanted to me. "Dreams of the fog. From after Ultimecia."

"Oh," she said, making a contemplative face. "Are you sure they're not just dreams, Squall? I mean, why would you be dreaming of him, and not like, uh, what are their names? Those friends of his?" She asked, snapping her fingers trying to come up with their names. "Well, whatever, they would more likely dream about him than you."

"Why do you say that?" he asked frowning, finding himself strangely offended.

"Because, Squall, like I told you, it's LOVE that freed us. It's LOVE that connected us. We found each other with LOVE and there's definitely no love between you and Seifer," she said giggling.

Okay…whatever. He narrowed his eyes at her. For some reason, the simplistic answer was pissing him off. Most likely it was because it reminded him of all the stupid children's movies he'd been forced to sit through where all of life's problems could be solved with the right cliché. Apparently this one was love. "Rinoa, no offense," well, maybe a little offense, "but that sounds infantile and actually kind of trite," he said with a bite in his tone that even surprised him.

She gaped at his rude response. "Only you would think so, Squall, and I'm just trying to help." She looked away as her eyes became sad.

Well, shit. Squall felt a sharp pang of guilt for insulting her on the same subject of their break-up. She wasn't trying to upset him and if anyone had a right to be bitter about the failings of love, it wasn't him. "I'm sorry, Rin. I don't want to argue with you, it's just-," he crossed his arms as he looked at her, honestly curious about how people come up with such crap. "Why don't you tell me why you think that?"

"I didn't have to think it, because I just knew it, Squall. When we were there, it just connected. I could FEEL it." She shook her head. "Do you remember what I said before I left? It's like you're disconnected from your love and it makes me so sad for you. And I don't know how to explain it any better because you don't know what I mean. All I can say is, I knew what to do because I knew what it was I was reaching for," she explained.

He rubbed his forehead as he tried - really tried - to consider it. It's not like Rinoa was completely stupid, and it could make sense he supposed, in a way, that something as intangible as time could be effected by something as equally intangible as love. But what was he supposed to do with that?

She stared at him solemnly, "I'm sorry, Squall. But if it's true that Seifer is lost in time, unless someone that loves him is searching for his soul..." Rinoa brightened. "Hey, do you want me to try?"

Did he? Did he want Rinoa to focus her love on Seifer? "No," he refused, adamantly. The idea of it sickened him. Maybe he wasn't as over Rinoa as he thought.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "Because I haven't thought of him like that in a long time but for a while we were—"

Hell no. "Definitely," he said, cutting her off with a wave of his hand. "Don't even think about it." Maybe Rinoa was right. Maybe it was impossible for him to feel his love because he wasn't wanting to do the best thing for Rinoa or Seifer. He was only thinking of himself.

"Okay," she said at length, trying to understand his curious mood swings. Instead, she offered another idea. "Why don't you talk to Quistis and the others and see what they think? Maybe they can help you come up with something."

He shrugged his shoulders feigning indifference to the idea. He wasn't sure what to tell her about that. She already didn't get along with Quistis very well.

"Bitch!" she stated as the puzzle fell in place for her. "This is why you resigned, isn't it?"

Squall just shrugged again. "She only does what she thinks is best. It's not personal."

"Not personal?" she repeated angrily. "She's doing what's best for Garden? Or for her?" Rinoa narrowed her eyes menacingly. "I will claw her beady eyes out!"

"Stop it, Rin," he chastised, gently. "You know she's not like that." He was already the main focus of gossip. Having Rinoa on a violent rampage around Garden wouldn't help. "And it was my idea, remember?"

"Maybe so, but I'm not so sure she didn't force your decision." Rinoa was used to being around manipulative politicians. She never understood a soldier's priorities. "So you told her the truth and she didn't believe you?"

"Does that mean you do?" he asked.

"Of course I do, Squall. Why would you be lying to me?" she replied, honestly.

He might not be in love with Rinoa, but he was pretty certain he liked her.

* * *

"You really used magic on him?"

"I had to!" the perky Selphie defended.

Both girls giggled conspiratorially, sitting together on Selphie's loveseat.

"Oh Selphie. You're too funny. And SO bad!" Rinoa said, grinning. "Poor Irvine," she said, shaking her head. Hyne, she missed this. This was so much fun! "I missed you guys so much! You have NO idea."

Rinoa loved being back home with her old friends in Deling City. She had missed them tons and tons when she was living at Garden. But even as crazy as everyone here was, she found that she missed them, too. And they obviously needed her! As trained as they were in fighting, they were useless when it came to affairs of the heart. She wasn't about to let Squall revert back to his stuffy old self and Irvine definitely needed some tips on how to be a proper gentleman.

Plus, there was no one in the world like Selphie. She was a walking party as long as you had the energy to keep up.

"Awww, I missed you too, Rin Rin," she replied in baby talk while making pouty faces. It was shocking to think that Selphie could kill you with two fingers if she wanted to. "And now you'll fix Squall for us!" she exclaimed brightly.

"I certainly hope so," but she wasn't so sure she knew what was wrong exactly. "Which is why you have to tell me everything you know."

Selphie shrugged. "I don't know much. All I know is, Squall's been covered in hickies and walking around all dreamy-like making everyone crazy. Even Irvine! I mean, at least three times this week alone he's bonked me from behind while screaming, 'Yee Ha Commander,' which I think is just wrong because—"

"What!" wait. "What!" Did she just, "What?" What hickies, where? "What? Wait. What hickies?" Rinoa stared at Selphie with gigantic eyes. Squall had left out some very important details.

Selphie's huge doe eyes stared right back at her. "Didn't he tell you?"

Rinoa shook her head, mouth gaping at the girl.

Selphie sighed, exasperatedly. "Hickies! All over his neck!" she exclaimed. "And maybe in other places we couldn't exactly see," she added, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Whoa. Wow. "Who gave them to him?" Rinoa asked greedily, leaning forward and getting into the story like a true gossip connoisseur.

Selphie grinned and scooted closer. "Nobody knows except maybe Quistis but she's not saying anything! All we know is that he was using Seifer's old room and coming out with more hickies!" she whispered secretly.

"Seifer's room?" Rinoa whispered back. Selphie nodded. Interesting. "Well, I am going to get to the bottom of this," she promised, in her normal voice, uncertain why they were whispering anyway. "And I'm sorry about Irvine. He's a jerk for doing that to you."

Selphie frowned glumly, resting her chin on her hand. "I know. It's not fair. He's only played Squall for me once."

* * *

Balamb Garden was buzzing. High ranking officials from every Garden were present as well as countless assistants. Something big was going on and the entire population of Garden knew it.

Quistis asked Squall to accompany her to the meeting with one tiny request - he kept quiet. She wanted to prove that she was the one in charge and was perfectly capable on her own. She wanted him to be present, but invisible. The two of them a strong force. United in purpose to squelch the rumors of dischord.

Squall's arched eyebrow indicated what he thought of her request. Like being quiet would be hard for him to do.

More than likely, her request was more for Balamb than for her own benefit, anyway. It would look bad if ex-Commander Leonhart wasn't helping transition the new Commander in. It would look like he was forced out.

As if anyone could force him to do anything. And he didn't need to prove anything to anyone. Still, he agreed. Even the hint of weakness was bad for business when your business was selling fighters.

Quistis sat in his old chair with sublime posture and an obvious sense of joy for the job that he never felt. These meetings always seemed like a huge waste of time and resources to him. Why couldn't they just use the phone.

Squall sat in the chair on her right and stifled a yawn. The fact that they were making a big deal about the meeting meant very little to him. Ever since the Sorceress War they had a tendency to overreact.

Finally, a young Galbadian SeeD called the meeting to order and began business.

"The Sorceress' Knight, Seifer Almasy, has been found alive but injured somewhere in the southeastern hemisphere. Due to the fact that press is present, we will not be disclosing the exact location. As you all know, he is also an ex-Garden Cadet."

Squall felt Quistis yanking on his arm. "Squall, sit down!" she hissed.

Oh, was he standing? He sat back down and glared in annoyance at the people still staring at him. Hello? Why are you looking at me? We have an important meeting going on. He turned to the Galbadian. "Please, continue," he encouraged. Quistis nudged him with her foot under the table and shot him a withering look.

The SeeD cleared his throat and continued. "Because of this fact, he is Garden's responsibility and we need to inform the public what our intentions are."

Who cares about the public? I'm sure everyone would rather know things like "Is he well? And what are the details of his discovery, location excluded?" Quistis snapped the pencil she'd been holding. Maybe it _was_ going to be hard for him to keep quiet after all.

"A local fisherman found him at sea. Mr. Almasy was conscious when he was found, but quickly lost consciousness. The fisherman brought him ashore and his family as well as others in the village nursed him back to health. One of their worldlier youngsters recognized the SeeD jacket and called officials."

There was a sudden burst in conversation. SeeD Jacket. Now everyone wanted to know how Seifer came to be there. Was he dangerous? Was he up to no good? They wanted to know why he was wearing a SeeD uniform. Squall guessed they wouldn't find much of a uniform; he smiled to himself which made Quistis angrily clear her throat and kick him under the table. Hard.

* * *

When the meeting ended, several officials sought out the ex-Commander and wished him well in his new position. They commented on how much better he looked than the last time they'd seen him. As if the new job was doing him good. Whatever.

They wished the new Commander good luck as well, because it wasn't their problem now. It was all on the heads of Balamb Garden. Quistis' head, to be exact. It was the first time Squall had ever seen her squirm.

Squall had implemented the Seifer Almasy Agreement before he resigned from his position; if Seifer was found, Balamb Garden would take him and either incarcerate or try to rehabilitate him. It had already been signed and agreed to by every Garden Commander, and pushed through the nation's leaders headed by Esthar. Quistis eyed him suspiciously when she'd found that out.

"Squall, what were you doing in there? What was that? I thought we agreed you'd stay quiet? And why didn't you tell me about the agreement beforehand? I felt like a complete idiot!"

Squall shrugged. "Sorry. I didn't expect it to come up this soon."

She sighed, frustrated. "You were much too interested. You were betraying your feelings in the matter!"

"What feelings?" He asked, indignant. This was the first time Squall had ever been accused of having too many feelings.

Quistis was looking around the busy hallway. She had tons of things to do and still had to help send the other commanders off. She just couldn't deal with this right now. The blonde Commander dropped her voice and leaned close to him, "Squall, I am going to have to request you stay away from Seifer now that he's arrived," she said, bluntly and walked away.

Squall watched in cool amusement as she turned the corner, and then scoffed at her bossiness. Request denied. She'll just have to get over it. He passed the elevator to his quarters and headed for the infirmary. It had been more than two weeks now. Squall couldn't wait to rehabilitate Seifer.

* * *

Seifer stretched his limbs languidly, enjoying how good it felt, then stopped short when he realized he felt no pain. Weird. He opened his eyes, and he was staring at an oddly familiar colored wall. Huh.

The room was silent except for the simple rhythm of breathing, but not just from his lungs. He turned his head to the other side and visibly started when he saw, "Leonhart?"

"Seifer."

"What are you doing here?" No. Better yet. "What am I doing here?"

"You were injured."

Uh huh. Duh. "So, what am I doing here again?"

"You needed a potion. How do you feel?

"Good." He said at length staring at Leonhart strangely. Something was odd about all this. Not just the crazy drugs they had him on that made his head feel like it was floating, but about Leonhart. He was always weird, but it was like he was-

"Good," Squall returned, licking his lips like he was-

- like he was normally so cold, but this - this - wasn't coldness he felt. Seifer narrowed his eyes, suspiciously. Was it smugness? Maybe Leonhart knocked the shit out of him and was here to gloat. But no. That didn't feel quite right either.

Seifer didn't like not knowing where he stood. It pissed him off actually. "So what are you doing here, Leonhart? You come to blow me, or what?"

"Is that what you want?" he asked calmly, with eyebrows barely raised, like Seifer had asked to borrow a pair of white socks.

What the? What kind of fucking alternate reality- "Yes." Seifer hoped that came out more cocky than he felt. This was a challenge. Right? A game to see who would back down first and there was no way Leonhart was going to beat Seifer at his own-

Seifer tensed his body as his personal space became crowded by a very warm ice prince. "Okay," Squall said as his eyes roamed hungrily over his body. "I'll suck you. Then I want you to fuck me."

"Okay," Seifer breathed out, his mind in a tailspin with the utterance of the most mind blowing request Leonhart has ever made. Even in his dreams. But shit. Seifer slammed the brakes on his dick. This was a game, right? Or was it the drugs?

Seifer was confused and it was irritating him. And he was tired, really tired. He was just going to have to straight out ask Leonhart what the fuck kind of game he was playing, and he would, just as soon as Squall's tongue was out of his mouth, and Squall was no longer spread out on top of him like he belonged there, like he fucking owned Seifer.

Squall was devouring him, tonguing him like a love-starved criminal just released from prison and Seifer has never, ever, wanted to play the bitch but this was- this was- this was the first time Seifer considered laying back and saying - fuck - just fucking take me now, Squall, do it. He could always blame the drugs later.

"Oh my God! Squall!" Quistis interrupted, and Seifer groaned at the abrupt removal of his source of pleasure. However, Squall only sat up. He didn't scurry off like Seifer would have expected when being caught by mommy.

Instead, Leonhart's expression turned to ice faster than Seifer has seen aimed at anyone but him. Against Trepe? Wow. This was new. "What do you want, Quistis?"

"Hyne, Squall, I told you to stay away from him!" She did? Why? He looked at Squall.

"It's none of your business, Quistis." Good point. Seifer didn't invite her either. Seifer looked at Quistis.

"Squall, I didn't want to do this. I didn't think I needed to do this, but I order you to stay away from him." What the fuck? Who did she think she was to start ordering people around like that? No way was pissypants going to take that shit.

Squall climbed off of him, and turned to him. "Seifer. Do you want me to leave?"

"Of course not."

"Why?"

"Because you were going to blow me?"

He rolled his eyes. "Anything else?"

"Well," Seifer wondered what the right answer was, the one that would get Leonhart to stay and continue what they were doing, "we were going to fuck, too."

Squall left in a huff, and Quistis followed, leaving Seifer alone in the room to wonder what the fuck just happened? And was someone going to tell him the fuck he was doing here in the first place?

Quistis chose not to run after Squall last night when she saw just how many students were roaming the halls. He was normally a private person but she couldn't discount a huge emotional scene when he'd been acting so out of character lately. And nothing was more insanely out of character for Squall than seeing him spread out on top of Seifer kissing him like that.

And Seifer, honestly, she had expected his reaction to have been nothing less than homicide. But his hands were all over Squall like a sex starved man; grabbing and pulling him closer and tighter. Quistis fanned herself with her own hand at the memory. Seifer was clearly not interested in murder.

It had to be the drugs. There was just no other answer. Seifer must have been reacting on instinct - remembering his time with some other lover.

And the level of animosity in that room would have been completely normal - if aimed at each other - but it had been aimed squarely at her. She was trying to prevent a major blowout; trying to protect them both for Hyne's sake. And they were mad at her for it!

It was frightening to be on the wrong side of the both of them combined. Frightening and surreal. Bizarre does not even begin to cover what she witnessed in that room.

Thankfully, Seifer had been so drugged out that when she visited him this morning, he didn't seem to remember anything about what had happened last night. Or anything after the war… or how he got here, or where he's been and what he's been doing, or - anything - really.

It was frustrating trying to figure out a puzzle with no pieces, but at least he was healthy and safe. She didn't exactly like the idea of setting him free on Garden but she was very glad he was home.

She could only hope Squall had calmed down by now. With any luck, maybe he had completely forgotten as well! Quistis ran her hand over the leather whip attached to her hip. He'd never attacked a friend before, but his anger lately, Hyne… She chimed the door and waited, awkwardly, willing herself not to fidget.

This was going to be hard to do. In fact, it was probably going to be damn near impossible if recent events were any indication. Fighting a t-rexaur blindfolded seemed like a more pleasant task at the moment. Unfortunately, it still had to be done. The normally poised woman sagged uncharacteristically at the thought.

To be honest, Squall was impossible to talk to on the best of days, so she was quite expecting hell. But this absolutely had to be dealt with successfully and without incident. She needed to keep Squall away from Seifer, and hopefully without a fight, until he sorted out his problems.

"Squall," she exhaled, smiling, when the door hissed open. Quistis was relieved to have at least made it this far with him. She was worried he wouldn't answer the door for her anymore. However, he wasn't smiling back. Apparently, luck wasn't going to be completely with her.

She cleared her throat and forged on authoritatively. "We need to discuss the current situation and resolve it. The last thing I want is for things to escalate into a need for disciplinary action."

Hyne above! She shied away from his deathly icy glare by averting her eyes to the floor while at the same time wondering how the hell does he manage to do that? Even when he was a cadet, he could bring weathered SeeDs to heel with a look. He made her feel like she was the one standing there in trouble.

"Please Squall, we really need to talk about last night," she said, taking on a more pleading tone. She briefly glanced back up to gauge his willingness to compromise only to see his eyes hadn't changed a fraction, in fact, he looked downright impenetrable. Quistis sighed and looked back down at the floor, already feeling defeated. "I don't want to fight. I want to help you."

Oh, damn it all to hell. She was the one in charge now and this wasn't even about her. This was about Squall. She needed to face her fears. She loved him and had to do what was best for him, even if it made him mad at her. What kind of commander would she be if she couldn't take control of this situation? She took a deep breath, and with her hands balled into fists, forced herself to look him in the eyes.

Holy shit, Quistis. Breathe. Breathe, then open your mouth and just start talking.

"I'm really worried about you," she spit out. There. The truth was always a good way to start. "I'm worried about you and I want to help you; to do what's best for you."

She paused, again, this time proudly maintaining eye contact. She waited for him to speak or acknowledge that she even existed but he just continued to stare coldly.

"Squall, I don't know what to do about this, "Quistis admitted, spreading her hands in frustration in front of her. "I care about you, and I'm worried that something is - seriously - wrong with you. What has been going on lately is not normal. You have to admit that."

He still said nothing, did nothing - and she came up blank as to what to do next, because blue eyes remained stone. How was she supposed to make progress with a wall?

What she needed to do was spit it out and be done with it. That was the original plan at any rate. Besides, what else was there to do? If she ordered him to do something, he had to follow, or else leave Garden… he knew that.

"I want to help you and I have to do what's right, what's best for everyone, what I think is best for you," she said, speaking way too quickly with an annoyingly whiny aftertaste. Oh well. At least she was almost done. She was just repeating herself now, anyway.

She closed her eyes tightly; if I shed even one tear, so help me…this is not about what you want, Quistis. She looked down at the floor again. "Even if it makes you hate me."

So far, so good. No embarrassing waterworks… yet. She wouldn't have to hide in shame for crying on the job the first month. But she knew how cold he could be-how easily he could cut her from his life. She knew that he would always mean more to her than she ever would to him. At least she said everything she needed to say. Quistis sighed and waited.

Squall continued to stare at her, coldly, until he shifted his weight onto his other foot. "I know," he replied simply.

"You do?" Quistis was embarrassed with the amount of surprise in her voice, but of all possibilities… Well, she hadn't expected him to agree with her. "Well, okay. Good," she said, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I'm glad you understand." Unfortunately, it had to be said. Her shoulders tensed and she winced inside. "I still need to order you to stay away from Seifer. I know you'll have to be around him somewhat, on a professional level, at meetings and such but in general, Squall…"

"Fine," he agreed, easily, if a little bit acidly.

"It is?" There was that stupid surprise again. And she was positive her mouth was hanging open. She couldn't look very commanding doing that. But then again, he'd agreed with her before and then he would do whatever he wanted- "Squall, I can't have you lying to me and sneaking around. I can't help you if-"

"I said it was fine," he cut in, bitterly. Apparently he was still mad at her and that was fine - perfectly fine. As long as he didn't hate her it could be fixed. "He doesn't remember, anyway."

"What do you mean?" She asked, uncertain how he could know that Seifer didn't remember the events in the infirmary. She didn't even know until she talked to him this morning. Then it dawned on her. "Your dreams you mean?" Quistis stepped into the entryway and placed her hand lightly on his shoulder. "Oh Squall. Don't you see? How could he remember?" She squeezed him gently. "They were only dreams. Your dreams."

Unfortunately, her new position in his entryway allowed her to view a very un-welcomed site. She straightened, dropped her arm to her side and tried not to frown too noticeably. If Quistis had known she was here…"Hello, Rinoa. I didn't know you were visiting."

"Well, you've been busy." How Rinoa managed to sound perfectly pleasant and at the same time like a raging bitch was completely beyond impressive.

"Yes, that's true," Quistis agreed. So Rinoa was mad at her. Of course it had something to do with Squall, it always had something to do with Squall, but she couldn't imagine Squall telling the flighty girl about everything. Quistis hoped he would. The shock on her face would be priceless. "Well, I'll leave you two to finish your visit. I know the train leaves soon."

"Oh, I'm staying. I'm here on vacation. I have plenty of time to find out what's been going on," she said, eyes narrowed knowingly at Quistis.

Quistis barely managed to stop her eyes from rolling. A vacation from what? Rinoa's life was a perpetual vacation. Quistis turned her attention back to Squall. "If you need me for anything, please Squall, come see me," she requested.

When he nodded, she smiled at him and turned to leave. "Rinoa, you are always welcome, of course, but I'd like to remind you that while you are on vacation, no one else is, so I hope you understand that I expect everyone to keep to their schedules."

Quistis walked away, not waiting for the snippy remark she'd be guaranteed if she'd stayed. She had plenty of other things to do than defend herself to someone who'd never worked a day in their life.

Quistis' smile brightened. She could handle Rinoa. At least Squall didn't hate her and he was going to stay away from Seifer. Everything was going to be okay. Today was a great day.

Squall hit the button to shut the door, sighing deeply and letting his head hang forward.

"I can't believe she has the nerve to show up here like that, after everything she's done to you, and say she cares about you!" Squall shrugged. It would be pointless to argue. Her anger at Quistis ran deeper than this most recent episode.

"And why is she telling you to stay away from Seifer? What does she think you'll do? Kill him?" She asked, scoffing. "Did she touch you?"

He shrugged again. Seemed the most sensible way to go.

"I mean really. The nerve of her! I managed to live here for a year without disrupting all of Garden. She is such a bitch!" She shifted in her seat and smoothed out the wrinkles in her skirt. "What was she talking about, Squall? Why did she order you to stay away from Seifer?" She pushed her hair back, smoothing it at the same time, "Did she touch you?"

Squall sat next to her, looking her straight in the eye. "It doesn't matter. I'd planned on staying away from him, anyway." Hopefully she'd drop it and hopefully he'd just made that clear enough.

"Fine," she replied, smiling, taking both his hands in hers. "No more talking. Let's go grab some lunch, maybe go to the beach-"

Squall raised his eyebrows at her. Didn't Quistis just explain? "I have to go to work."

"Oh," she pouted. "Okay."

Rinoa walked to the couch, grabbed her purse, and headed towards the door. "I'll just go see what Selphie's doing and I'll see you later," she said gliding gracefully out of his quarters. He shook his head and rubbed his forehead. Selphie would never get any work done.

* * *

"Man, it's good to have you back, ya know?" Seifer couldn't believe he was sitting in the lunchroom with Raijin again. It was surreal. He spun the coffee mug around half expecting the other side not to exist. Maybe the drugs were still fucking with his mind. Garden didn't seem real.

"Yeah, Rai, I know what you mean," because he knew exactly what he meant. He meant back from the madness. From the vacation in the cesspool of evil that being an asshole bought him. It was a second chance and one he sure as hell didn't deserve. He didn't get it.

"I didn't think Trepe liked me that much," Seifer admitted.

"She didn't really have a choice, ya know?"

He shrugged. "Well, she's the commander."

"So that's it then? You're a SeeD, just like that?" Raijin asked, sitting across the table from the Seifer.

"Yeah." Seifer ran his hands through recently shorn hair. "Fucking weird, right?" There had been a very short and very strange reunion in the form of a meeting the previous hour where it was decided that Seifer didn't need to be locked up. Funny since the last time they had a meeting, they were trying to kill each other.

Surprisingly, his biggest champion was none other than Squall Leonhart, although that seemed to be due to the fact that he was tired of sitting through the meeting. He seemed awfully antsy for someone who should be used to sitting through boring shit.

Quistis questioned Seifer about why he was found in a SeeD jacket. He said he didn't know where he got the jacket, and that was true. He hadn't a fucking clue. They spent quite a bit of time discussing the stupid jacket, how badly it was made, how fake it looked, how they missed essential SeeD emblems and regalia until Squall jumped up and was like, 'forget the fucking jacket!' like he was offended, or like a raging lunatic. Well, he used more words than that and with less swearing but that's basically what he said.

Lucky for Seifer, they dropped it and Quistis decided whatever the jacket was about, it could never be used successfully for an attack on Garden, and even Seifer wasn't that much of a moron to think it could fool anyone. How kind of her to think so.

"So you're just supposed to wander around until you find something you want to do?" Raijin asked.

"Uh, yeah… that's what she said anyway." Seifer shrugged. "When I have a few suggestions she'll go over them with me and put me to work somewhere." She was pleasant with Seifer. And professional. But not especially friendly. She didn't actually seem thrilled with the idea, so why was she doing it?

Seifer downed the last of his coffee and decided he didn't give a shit. She's the one in charge so Seifer couldn't be blamed if people threw themselves out the window when they saw him coming. And if she didn't like it, she shouldn't have done it.

"Weird, but that's cool, ya know? Sounds like Leonhart really set you up. Shit, Ow!" Raijin scowled at Fujin as she kicked his legs off the chair so she could sit down. "You could have just asked, ya know?" Fujin scowled back at him. "QUIET."

Seifer smiled a big toothy grin at the white haired girl. "Sweetheart!"

Fujin responded with a rare small smile as she dropped her tray on the table. "JACKASS."

"How come you get to call her sweetheart, ya know? I called her baby once and she smacked me. Ow, shit! Like that!" he said rubbing the side of his face.

Seifer chuckled. "She likes me better. She just uses you for sex."

"Aw screw it!" Raijin said with a frown, throwing down his tiny packet of chips. Apparently the packaging was capable of defeating a giant warrior. "What jobs are you gonna pick, Seifer?"

Seifer shrugged and opened his chips for him. "Haven't a clue." He was becoming less interested in his own future, anyway, and far more curious about the blonde flirting with Leonhart over by the lunch buffet.

Leonhart had been glancing over regularly, but so far had not dropped by to say hello or even 'whatever'. He had expected some kind of formal acknowledgement from the sour faced hero-of-every-hyne-damned-thing, but so far got nothing. Not even at the meeting. He hadn't said one word directly to Seifer since he'd been back.

"So, is Leonhart taking it up the ass from that dipshit now?" Seifer asked, referring to the blonde standing next to Squall.

Raijin had to turn around to look at who Seifer was talking about. "Huh? Oh, that guy? Naw. He's part of Leonhart's new team."

Squall stood, leaning to the side on one arm against the lunch counter, looking uninterested. The blonde in question was standing a bit too close for a casual conversation. Seifer narrowed his eyes. There was something different about Leonhart. He looked pissy as hell, as per usual, but there was something else…

Seifer caught Leonhart glancing in his direction again, so Seifer nodded, but Leonhart just ignored him. "All those guys around him, they're on his team?"

"Yeah, think so." Raijin replied, between bites.

"Huh." Seifer had never seen Leonhart in a group of people as the center of attention. He was terminally unfriendly and not opposed to using violence to keep it that way. No matter how hot his ass looked in leather, the threat of dismemberment usually kept others away. "So what's different about him?"

Raijin frowned in confusion with his sandwich held in mid air. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, it's like he's-" Seifer cocked his head to the side as he tried to pinpoint what had changed. His hair was a mess, his clothes too tight-that was standard Leonhart, there. His lips were more… something. Like his skin was… he just couldn't pin it down.

Maybe he'd been working out…or just maybe someone had recently been working him out. Wonder of wonders. "He's with Rinoa, right?"

"I think they broke up," Raijin stared up to the ceiling, thinking. "Like, a couple months ago, maybe? Shit, woman, why are you kicking me?" He glared at Fujin.

"So, he's not seeing anyone?" Leonhart was jutting his hip out more, making his leather covered ass even more attractive; noticeable to everyone in the room. He wasn't holding his body so tightly to himself anymore.

Raijin shrugged. "Don't think so, but he doesn't tell me much, ya know?"

Fujin shook her head in distaste for the person in discussion. "FREAK."

Seifer nodded. Understood. And completely correct. However, it looked like Squall had finally hit maturity. Leonhart was reeking of 'fuck me' and attracting men like flies. He probably had no clue what he was doing, but he was definitely sending out welcoming vibes - but not to that blonde guy talking to him. Seifer knew that glare intimately.

Dincht stood nearby, talking animatedly with the group. Describing something inane and in great detail most like. His arms flailing around like a fucking moron. He wasn't even aware of Leonhart's growing agitation. Why that pissy bitch Leonhart put up with such useless idiots, Seifer would never understand.

Then the smiling blonde prick stood even closer, as if to say something private to the now openly frowning brunette. As he did, he ran his fingers down Leonhart's chest and lifted Griever, pretending to admire it. As if that was his target. Fucking dick.

Seifer stood up abruptly, the force of his movement making his chair slide loudly across the floor, attracting all nearby attention.

"Hey, where you goin'?" Raijin asked.

"Coffee," Seifer said, darkly. He stormed a path over to the noisy group, and almost smiled as their faces dropped. Apparently, they knew who he was. Good. Saved him fucking time.

The blonde lecher straightened up, frowning and moved his body in front of the now seriously annoyed looking brunette. How cute. He was going to protect Leonhart from the big bad bully? Well, what was he going to do about this?

"Shit, Seifer! What the hell's your problem, man?" Zell exclaimed as Seifer shoved the blonde kid into his friends, knocking several of them down in the process.

Seifer smiled. "What are you talking about, Chicky? I'm just trying to get a cup of coffee."

"Man, you've been back one day and you're already causing trouble. I can't believe Quistis let you loose. You're still crazy!"

"Calm down. So I get a little testy without my coffee. Who doesn't?" Seifer looked at the wide eyed blonde and his equally wide eyed friends. "I'm sure they can understand a man's need for coffee. Isn't that right, cadets?" They all nodded dumbly. What a waste of SeeD-guard training. Who'd be afraid of these morons?

"They're SeeDs and you know it," Squall said, speaking to Seifer for the first time, the smooth voice trailing pleasantly down his spine. He had to admit - he had missed being chastised by the brunette.

Seifer looked at him and smiled. "Is that so? Are they yours then?" Leonhart refused to reply when the answer was obvious. "Well, why don't you teach them manners and simple tasks like, uh, I don't know… how to get lunch without holding up the line?"

Leonhart glared coldly but said nothing. Seifer moved close to him, whispering privately, breathing hotly against his ear. "And while you're changing things, why don't you quit advertising your ass to everyone in Garden before you get raped."

Seifer walked away with the image of shock and outrage on Leonhart's face. It was an amazingly beautiful way to start his first day back.

* * *

Seifer sat stretched out in the bleachers watching the Balamb Guard do their training. Seifer noticed Leonhart was still doing all his strikes double fisted. He could easily control the swing with only one hand on a few of those strikes and gain an amazing strike of power. Apparently he was still more afraid of losing control than gaining strength of attack. Too bad. He was only holding himself back.

Seifer was surprised to see they were already leaving for the day. He must have been sitting on his ass watching him for fucking hours. Didn't feel like it to him, but that was normal lately. His brain had been fucking with him since... he didn't know for how long. The last thing he clearly remembered was fighting.

Seifer waited until Leonhart entered the lift and followed him in. The brunette gave him the side-eyed look-of-death before pushing the button for the third floor. It was the first time Seifer had been alone with Leonhart and that familiar buzz of anticipation was in the air in full force, with a strong measure of that eau de sex appeal that Leonhart was leaking. Seifer felt giddy with the abundance in ways he could fuck with him.

"That was the sorriest example of SeeD training I have ever seen."

Squall scoffed at him. "Like you've seen a lot."

"Enough to know that your team is shit." Seifer grinned provokingly.

Squall rolled his eyes. "… whatever."

"It's no wonder your fighting has gone to hell if that's all you have to train with," Seifer continued.

"My training is fine." Seifer smiled larger. He was already getting to him.

"Oh yeah? Think your pansy ass can handle a real man? Or do you prefer all those pencil dicks you play with?" The double meaning would be lost on Leonhart, but it still gave Seifer satisfaction.

"Save it, Seifer. I'm not a kid. I'm not getting dragged into your stupid games anymore."

_I'm not doing this with you anymore, Seifer_. The words echoed in his mind like a déjà vu laced with psychotropic drugs, making him dizzy enough to make him need an arm against the wall to steady himself with. Focusing on the floor would normally help him in a dizzy spell except it wasn't fucking there. Grey mist swept over his feet and darkness blanketed the edges of his vision. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, and then tried breathing again… and again. And then again.

His head finally stopped spinning and he opened one eye warily - glad to see the familiar gun metal floor instead of empty fog. With one hand still placed on the lift's wall, he raised his eyes expecting to connect with annoyed blue ones again. Instead, what he saw was concern. "Are you okay?" The softer tone in the brunette's voice sent a chill through him and placed him on edge of… the edge of… the edge of what, he couldn't say. Like the edge of a chasm filled with darkness. It was most likely the edge of madness; everything about being back at Garden seemed insane.

"Do you want to fight or not?" he asked, angrily - angry at himself for his weakness and not knowing where it came from and at Leonhart for witnessing it.

"No," he scolded the blonde, frowning. "Of course not."

Right, of course not. Squall wouldn't want to injure an already weakened soldier. Fucking pussy. Seifer was not a fucking invalid. "Then… what? Do you want to fuck?" The words were out of his mouth before his mind could process what he just said and to whom. He felt just as surprised as Squall looked. The fact that his status at Garden was precarious at best, left him feeling stunned at the audacity of his own balls. They'd always been big, but…

"What is wrong with you?" Leonhart hissed.

Seifer shook his head, laughing. "I have no idea."

Squall was staring at him warily now. "You're not - you're sick. You should go to the infirmary."

Fine. They had beds there. "I'll need your help to get there," he said, stepping closer to the brunette. He really was insane. Leonhart was right to be wary of him.

"No," Squall replied, refusing much too quickly for Seifer's ego, no matter how absurd the idea was and the fact that Leonhart had no clue what Seifer wanted from him. "I'll call someone for help."

"Why the fuck not?" He asked, bitterly. "You obviously want it. You're parading your ass all over Garden"

"What are you talking about?" Leonhart asked, confused. He felt like he and the blonde were having two separate conversations.

Seifer stepped closer. "I'm talking about fucking. Me fucking you. Right now. Do you want me to fuck you?"

Leonhart inhaled deeply, but said nothing. He turned his attention to the elevator buttons, hitting all of them repeatedly.

Seifer stepped close, again, until they were both pressed up into the tiny corner of the lift. He was a hairs breadth from the brunette, when he smiled and said in a low teasing voice, "That's not going to make it go any faster, you know."

Leonhart ignored him the best he could, with the length of Seifer's body pressed against his side. He closed his eyes and focused on being calm when every inch of him wanted to grab the blonde and force him satisfy the urges inside of him right now.

When the door dinged open, Quistis was standing there with her arms crossed, in a state of annoyed disbelief. "For Hyne's sake! If it's not one, it's the other."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Do I need to have you both neutered?" She asked.

"Me?" Seifer replied, incredulous. "He's the one in heat!"

She waived her hand sharply in dismissal of discussing it any further. "Seifer, I want to see you in my office."

Seifer's eyes lingered on the brunette leaning against the side of the lift with his eyes still closed.

"Now."

"Tch, I'm coming," he said as he turned away. "Shit. I should have known you'd trust me enough to have constant surveillance on me."

"Seifer, I can't believe you are back one day and already causing trouble!" She said, crossing her arms and frowning at the arrogant blonde sitting in front of her desk. "I put my trust in you, that you would do your part to make this work." She wagged her finger at him. "Not everyone is comfortable with you being accepted back so easily. A lot of people are against the idea of ever letting you back in Garden."

"Like you?" He wasn't about to pretend he wasn't aware of her mixed feelings.

"I-," she stopped, apparently thinking about how she could explain it to him. "I am just trying to do the best job I know how." She learned forward and laid her hands on the desk. "Look Seifer, Garden took a big hit having one of their own start a massive military campaign, whether a sorceress was behind it or not. Having you back makes a lot of people nervous. Everyone is watching how this turns out. Everybody wants you... for your fighting abilities at least. But nobody trusts you!"

"So, it sounds like it was a bad idea to let me back." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why did you do it?"

"It wasn't entirely up to me." She shrugged. "But if it were, I think I would still want you here," she said, giving him a kind smile. "I have to admit - I don't know in what capacity. However," she quickly went back to chastising him, "whether you like it or not, - I - am the one responsible and I can't allow you to go around terrorizing the occupants of Garden."

"Psh, I think you're overreacting quite a bit, Trepe," he dismissed.

"You assaulted a group of SeeDs in the cafeteria, Seifer!"

"Oh, come on! I pushed some kid who was trying to dry hump Leonhart. You can't blame me if he knocked over his friends on his way down."

Quistis sighed. "About that - Seifer, you need to stay away from Squall."

I told you to stay away from him - "Shit." Seifer grabbed his head in pain. I told you to stay away from him! The pain was piercing and the words rumbled through his head intensified and loud like thunder, which was fitting because it hurt like he'd been struck by fucking lightening.

"Are you okay?" She asked, walking over to him, showing the first real sign of concern he'd seen from her since he arrived. She put her hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes.

He put his hand down once the pain dimmed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a headache," he dismissed with a wave of his hand. "And why do you want me to stay away from Leonhart?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at the woman. "We weren't exactly fighting, you know."

Quistis flushed and sat back against her desk. "Oh, come on Seifer. I know you. This is Squall we're talking about. I know how you can't stand him and I know how you like to tease him. Anyway, it doesn't matter what you were doing, you need to stay away from him. It's for your protection as well."

"I don't need your protection," he scoffed at her ridiculousness. He hadn't been here a week and he was already annoyed with her hen pecking ways. Whoever decided to appoint her Commander was out of their fucking mind.

"I know, I know. But it's my job-"

"It's not your job to control everyone's lives. Fuck. Since when did Garden start telling people who they could and could not screw?"

"Seifer! It's nothing like that! I'm not saying you can't date people."

"Look, thanks for your concern, but I'm not about to let anyone tell me who I can talk to."

"Seifer, I am asking you - as a friend - to just please stay away from Squall. Just for a while."

"I don't think so, Trepe. I'm joining his squad, and staying away from him would make that awkward."

"No. I will absolutely not allow you to do that." She dismissed straight out.

"Why not?" She was really pushing this bossiness to another level. "You're the one who told me to look around and choose what I want to do! Look, I did what you said, and this is what I choose." Quistis was out of control. She was going to end up scheduling his potty breaks if he let her keep this up.

"Sorry, but no. You're just going to have to find something else."

He pushed himself up off the chair and stood, towering over her. He was getting fed up with her back-and-forth arguments and mood swings. "You," he said, pointing his finger at her, "had better start giving me some good reasons why I shouldn't just walk out of Garden."

"Please, Seifer, sit back down." She entreated uneasily. He didn't move.

Quistis sighed. "Look, Squall has been going through some things," she replied, giving into her discomfort of having Seifer hovering over her. "He needs some space and time to clear up his… thoughts. He hasn't been the same lately." She walked back around her desk. "He's had some very strange ideas lately and the last person he needs to be around is you," she said, while studiously avoiding looking Seifer in the eye.

"Holy Shit." Seifer's mouth dropped wide open. "That really happened?" Her eyes widened only a little, but that was all the confirmation Seifer needed. "I thought I was crazy, that it was just some crazy drug-induced dream, but he really was all over my ass in the infirmary, wasn't he?"

"Seifer! Where are you going?" she yelled after him as he rushed out her door.

"To get laid," he replied like she was stupid. The answer was obvious.

* * *

Squall hung up the phone. Quistis had just called to warn him that Seifer was on his way over.

Seifer was on his way over, and _he remembered_. What did he remember? Squall wasn't sure he was ready to find out. He'd been on an emotional rollercoaster with Seifer and needed to get off before it threw him off.

Squall's heart was pounding. Stupid heart. What was he anxious about? He just needed to tell Seifer to go away - that it was all a big mistake.

Squall jerked his head at the chime of the door. Idiot, he chastised himself. He was too busy worrying; he didn't even put pants on. Seifer will like that. Idiot! It doesn't matter what Seifer likes!

He hit the button a little too hard knowing, knowing, he'd see the cocky blonde on the other side smirking at him and he already hated it. Seifer would smile at him superior and smug and be totally justified in it because Squall was a mess. Squall was already pissed off.

"What do you want, Seifer?" Smiling prick. He hated being right.

"The question is," Seifer leaned lazily against the doorframe, "what do you want, Leonhart?

Squall's hands balled up reflexively. "I want you to leave."

Seifer looked the tense fighter in front of him up and down. "Are you sure about that?" He was wearing socks and a shirt. But no pants. White socks. White shirt… a white button up shirt of all things. And no pants.

"Go away, Seifer."

"Do you wear that to bed?" He asked, smiling wider. Seifer always thought he'd wear leather. … and what the hell? "Is that my shirt?" Seifer asked, incredulous, standing upright at the shocking revelation.

"No," he denied flatly, refusing to make eye contact.

"Yes it is. Those are my initials right there." He said, pointing at the small embroidered 'S' 'A' on the hem of the shirt. It was surreal, and confusing as fuck, but Leonhart was wearing his shirt! There was no way he could deny it.

Squall slapped his hand away. "Someone must have mixed up the laundry." Squall was embarrassed for being caught, but thankful for the change in subject. A shirt was much easier to discuss than a sexual mauling.

Seifer arched his eyebrow at such a ridiculous explanation. There was no way his dress shirt had been making the rounds in the laundry for a year. "So, give it back then." It was his. He had a right to it back. Seifer licked his lips in anticipation of watching Leonhart unbutton his shirt and reveal naked skin. He was leaning so far forward he was in danger of falling on top of him.

"You need it right now?"

"Yes. Now would be a great time for me."

"I can't." Squall said, stepping back.

"Why not?"

"I just can't right now," Squall scanned the area, "not right here."

And then Seifer knew; he just knew that Leonhart wasn't wearing anything under that shirt. Seifer swallowed thickly. "I'll just come in then," he said with a voice that had humerously dropped several octaves.

"That would not be a good idea."

"Why not?" Seifer asked, but the brunette didn't answer. Instead he gave Seifer such a lustful, tortured look, that Seifer found himself unable to keep his hands to himself.

"You need to let go of me!" Squall hissed, as he tried to pull himself out of Seifer's arms.

"Squall, Squall, Squall," Seifer intoned slowly while shaking his head. "You keep saying no, but the looks you're giving me-," he clicked his tongue in admonishment, "well, I can't be held responsible."

"I'm not doing anything," he denied, but he was no longer struggling with any real effort to break free. "You're crazy."

Seifer chuckled, pulled the brunette tight against his body, and rested his forehead against the brunette's. "Why are you wearing my shirt, Squall?"

Squall quit squirming against Seifer's body when he realized it was only making him more excited. "I didn't want to ruin any of mine."

Seifer chuckled at the obvious insult and Squall's tortured go-away-but-fuck-me-first inner struggle. "Fine with me." His distress was making Seifer painfully hard. "I'll help you ruin it."

Seifer moved to kiss him, but Squall was already moving forward ready to meet him halfway. The kiss started out intense and settled into a nice little supernova. And then Squall moaned against his lips.

Just as delicate hands were twining their way around Seifer's neck, a high pitched squeal sounded in the hallway, broke the spell, and well, shit, they should have moved inside, and before Seifer knew what was happening, Squall had shoved him back out of arm's reach.

Leonhart hit the button on the wall and shut the door quickly in Seifer's surprised face. "I'll just send the shirt to you tomorrow," he yelled though the door.

What the fuck? Seifer glared at the door as his mind mentally ripped the metal apart piece by piece. "Keep it," Seifer yelled back, bitterly. Well, fucking fuck fuck. "I wouldn't want it now anyway." He sounded like a spoiled child, even to himself. But really. What the fuck? He had been close, so close. What in Shiva's frozen hell was Leonhart's problem? He obviously wanted it.

Seifer stormed down the hallway from Squall's room causing everyone to give him a very wide berth.

And he didn't get it. What the hell was this all about? Squall wanted him, but why did Squall want him anyway? And wanted him now, of all times? Years ago would have been a little more convenient. Was it some kind of weird 'fuck-your-enemies' psychotic breakdown, because if it was, then that was kind of awesome.

And how dare he shut the fucking door in Seifer's face. Did he think could stop him with one hollow-core door? Seriously, what was it made of - two sheets of micro-thin polished aluminum and corrugated fiberboard? He could probably kick that shit right down. How long would it take? Five seconds? A minute? Seifer did a one-eighty in mid step. Let's just go find out.

"Yo, Seifer!" Raijin called after him. "Where ya goin'?"

Seifer sighed and hunched over dejectedly. "Nowhere," he replied, stopping for his large friend.

"Then let's get some drinks and catch-up, ya know?"

"Yeah," Seifer scratched the back of his head. "Alright. Let's go."

Seifer and Raijin settled into a dark booth in the corner of the bar as they watched their waitress' hips sway as she finally walked away, leaving them alone with their drinks. She had been trying to flirt her way into Seifer's lap, and normally he'd oblige, but he had other things on his mind. Apparently Raijin did too, since he quickly turned his attention from the waitress' backside to give him a leveling look. "Okay, Seifer. You gonna tell me what's going on with you now?"

The blonde took a swig of his favorite beer and savored it in his mouth for a moment. He swallowed deeply, then tilted his head in question. "How do you mean?"

"I mean, you just got back and we don't ever see you around. What gives?"

"Busy." He shrugged. "Trepe has me running around like a cockatrice with no head," he admitted honestly. "I'd love nothing more than to head to the pier and terrorize the fish with you and Fuu, but Trepe, man - she tells me to do one thing then freaks out because I didn't do the opposite. There's no winning with her."

Raijin humphed in agreement as he rubbed the stubble on his chin. "She's no Leonhart. That's for damn sure."

Seifer cocked his eyebrow and smiled. That was an obvious point, even for Raijin. "How so, big guy?"

But Raijin ignored his question in favor of his own. He pointed his finger at Seifer accusingly. "And, ya know? You haven't said a thing about where you've been all this time. Don't you think I deserve to know?"

"But I don't even know myself." Seifer shrugged, spreading his hands in apology. "I really don't. My thoughts are all," he shook his hands erratically, "fucked up and shit just seems weird. Sometimes I think I've completely lost it." He leaned forward, resting his weight on his forearms on the table. He stared at his friend, earnestly. "You know me, Rai. You know I'd tell you if I knew."

The large man sighed and leaned back. "Yeah, I know. I guess it's not just you that's acting weird." He shook his head as he stretched his arm out on the back of the booth, "Everyone's been acting crazy since you got back. I guess there's nothing to be done about it."

Raijin finally took a drink of the beer in his hand and grimaced, "Man, ya know. I always forget how bad this shit tastes."

Seifer chuckled and chugged the rest of his in show. He could admit it was an acquired taste.

"Hey, talk about crazy." Raijin said, leaning forward again, "You'd never believe who I saw walking into Garden with this shit," he said, pointing to his beer.

Seifer pursed his lips, about to ask 'who' but stopped short because he already knew. He Just. Fucking. Knew. Seifer closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes. "Leonhart."

"Yeah, man. You already knew he drank this shit?" Raijin shrugged. "I always thought you were the only one with a taste for grat piss."

Seifer felt like someone was squeezing his head with a vice, the pressure was intense. But he could see, he could just fucking -see- Leonhart lying on his back with his shirt riding up and his arms thrown over his face. Seifer had never wanted to touch anything so bad in his life.

So do it. Who's around to tell you, you can't? Who's here to stop you?

No one. Not anymore.

So he did it. He ran his hands up thighs, hips, naked skin and soon he was sliding his leg between and spreading those tightly covered leather ones as ice blue eyes innocently peeked at him curiously under the shadow of an arm.

Seifer pushed the arm off, so he could see his face clearly - and so he could hold him down. He wasn't going to be denied.

"You know I can throw you off in an instant now that I understand how my dreams work, right?"

Seifer nodded, but his agreement was superficial. Anything to pacify his new toy. Whatever you want to think is fine with me, pretty boy. Just be quiet and let me play with you.

Seifer tried to kiss him, but his toy wasn't cooperating. "But you want this," Seifer coaxed, trying to pry those lips open with words and soft kisses, but they only wanted to deny him.

"I don't." Leonhart said, as he turned away. Always so stubborn.

Fine. His neck was an equally attractive target and unable to deny him. "You do, or I wouldn't be doing this," he lied as he licked and he sucked, as he ground his hard dick into the body beneath him. Squall tasted better than he imagined and Seifer couldn't get enough.

"It's not possible." But Leonhart's voice was strained and he was beginning to move beneath Seifer. He was beginning to see the possibility.

"Hyne, Squall, you want this so fucking bad." The brunette shook his head, still trying to deny it but the truth was taking over his hips as they pushed up against the blonde's. A moan broke through the tightly closed lips and Seifer had won this round. He chuckled darkly. "Don't lie, Squall. I don't even exist…"

"Seifer!"

I don't exist?

"Seifer!"

Seifer stared back at Raijin in confusion. He half expected to see Leonhart sitting in front of him.

"Seifer! You're bleeding, man!"

Seifer stared at his hand, the blood covering it and the broken glass in his hand and he searched for his injury. It was puzzling. "But, I'm not cut," he said distantly, still feeling removed from the situation.

Raijin exhaled loudly, worried about his friend. "Your nose is bleeding." The dark man handed him a wad of napkins. "What the hell happened? You wouldn't even answer me."

"I was remembering - or thinking - something." Seifer pushed the napkins against his nose. "Maybe a dream, but… it seemed so fucking real."

"About?" Raijin prompted, handing him more napkins.

Seifer applied pressure to his nose until he was certain the bleeding had stopped. Seifer glanced at his friend to see he was still expecting an answer.

"Leonhart." he replied darkly. Seifer's preoccupation with the pretty boy was becoming annoying. He needed another drink.

"A dream about Leonhart?" Raijin asked, interested.

"Never mind." He did not want Rai as a partner on this particular journey. "It's probably just the fact that I keep bumping into the freak everywhere I go." He waived the waitress over for more drinks.

"Hmm," Raijin gave him a studying look.

Seifer sighed, feeling honest enough to admit, "Sometimes it's my fault. It's like I keep trying to see him." He felt he should let him know. Just in case Rai caught him stalking the brunette in the near future, because it was pretty much guaranteed Seifer was going to hunt him down until he got in his pants. "It's fucked up, right?"

I don't know." Raijin said, as he moved his arms out of the way for the waitress to set another round on the table and wipe up the broken glass. "You were always into his business."

"Bullshit." Seifer denied harshly, startling the waitress. "I never gave a shit what he was in to or what he was doing unless he was breaking the rules or I felt like beating someone's ass into the ground," he explained grumpily. Then he noticed the slightly frightened waitress. "Sorry." He gave her an apologetic look.

Raijin chuckled as he pushed a new beer at the blonde.

Seifer rubbed his face in annoyance. Well shit. Raijin obviously wasn't buying what he was selling and he was usually reliably dense.

Seifer watched the waitress out of the side of his eye until decided she was out of earshot. He turned to Raijin. "Fine." He admitted, grudgingly. "Maybe I was. A little. But now it's like I'm obsessed."

Raijin chuckled deeply and shook his head. "Well, whenever you want to talk about it, man, I'm here. But ya know, about Leonhart - you might be surprised how things turn out."

Something was very… off. Raijin wasn't clueless enough, for Raijin. Seifer narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the dark man. "You got something you want to tell me, friend?"

Raijin choked on the foul liquid in his mouth. "Shit, Seifer!" Raijin grabbed a napkin and wiped the beer off his chin. "How could you tell?" But he quickly shook his head. "Never mind. I don't want to know." He looked at his friend, seriously. "And forget it. I'm not sayin' a word. Fuu would have my balls!"

This time, it was Seifer's turn to laugh. "I hate to tell you this, but she's going to have your balls one of these days no matter what."

Raijin shivered at the thought. "Don't even joke about it, man."

"If you have information, you'd better spit it out now. You know I won't let up until I get it."

"Fine." Raijin sighed. "But you better not let Fuu know I told you." He shook his head in defeat. "Man, between you and her. I can never win."

* * *

"So, he tried to start a fight and sexually harass Squall in the elevator?" Irvine shrugged with disinterest at Selphie's revelation. "Seems like a pretty normal day for Seifer, doesn't it?"

"Well, I guess so," Selphie admitted. Nodding her empty head to the side.

But Rinoa Squawked at the news. "What?" She looked at Squall but he wasn't even paying attention. "It's normal for Seifer to sexually harass you?" She stared at him huge eyes. How could she not know this. How could she not know him. "You never told me that."

Squall shrugged. "It's Seifer." Was the only explanation he gave her.

Selphie scooted closer to Rinoa. "I heard a rumor once that Seifer tried to hit on Squall and Squall turned him down flat, and that's why Seifer always picks on him." She said.

Irvine laughed deeply. "Well I heard a rumor that Seifer and Squall were spotted kissing in the hallway yesterday so I wouldn't put much stock in rumors." Irvine replied, just now noticing the fact that Rinoa was in front of him. In front of him with a low, low cut blouse. Low enough to see just a wee bit of lace. "Rinoa," Irvine leered. "You're looking good. Looks like being single suits you." Which made him remember. "Hey, Selph. You still have that long brunette wig?"

Selphie snorted when she giggled.

"Ugh." Rinoa said, raising her hands in protest and leaning far away from Irvine. "I am sure I do not want to know."

Rinoa turned to Squall wanting to know more about this Seifer business. She took both of Squall's hands in hers and looked at him waiting until she was sure he was looking back at her. Making sure he was listening. "Squall," she started slowly, "Would you recognize if someone was flirting with you?" Sometimes with him it was like talking to a child.

"Of course." he answered, offended, pulling his hands away. But it became apparent to Rinoa that he didn't have a clue, and didn't know he didn't have a clue, when she could plainly see Selphie and Irvine both shaking their heads to the negative right in front of him without him noticing.

Rinoa sighed. This was news to her. "I wasn't even aware that Seifer flirted with guys. He seemed so into me that I can't imagine him being attracted to anything but girls." She admitted honestly.

Squall frowned at her. "You only dated a couple months. You aren't an expert."

Selphie scoffed. "Why are you so grumpy lately, Squall? Is Seifer already getting to you?" She really couldn't stand that Squall was becoming so angry and rigid with everyone. She liked him so much better when he was working everyone up into a sexual frenzy.

"Oh, don't mind him." Rinoa replied with a wave of her hands. "He's just been having bouts of jealousy lately."

"Really," Selphie asked, dragging the word out greedily with a smile. Gossip was always good. "Are you getting all possessive, Squall?"

"No."

Rinoa threw her arms around him and nuzzled his cheek. "Oh Squall, you can't hide anything from me. I know jealousy when I see it."

"So, does this mean there might be a rekindling of flames?" Selphie asked hopefully. Garden was way more fun with Rinoa around.

"No," Squall denied flatly.

Rinoa shrugged her shoulders. She didn't think so either, but Squall was definitely acting protective of her. Or maybe... not her. "Hmmm."

* * *

Quistis watched the foursome with dread. The last thing she wanted was for Rinoa to worm her way back into Squall's life. But with her giggling and smiling at Squall like that, it looked like that was exactly her intention. She watched as she grabbed Squall's hands. Quistis should have kicked Rinoa out when she first saw her. She had the right to do that, didn't she?

No.

No, she didn't. If Squall were still a cadet, it would be easy. But he's a SeeD now. And a captain. SeeDs had a right to visitors in their quarters.

But Rinoa would definitely take advantage of Squall's recent vulnerability. So how could she throw a wrench in Rinoa's plans? Who would even be able to gain the attention of Squall?

She looked around the cafeteria and saw... no, no, uh uh, no…no way. Not Seifer. That would be a very bad idea. An extremely bad, terrible idea.

At that moment, Rinoa threw her arms around Squall and nuzzled his cheek. Quistis scoffed in disgust.

Quistis walked over to her newest SeeD whose eyes seemed to be just as intently focused on the foursome as hers. "You know that position you wanted?"

"Of course." Seifer replied without looking up.

Quistis nodded. "I changed my mind. You can start tomorrow."

Seifer smiled up at her, making eye contact for the first time since their last argument, and shrugged. "Suits me."

* * *

Seifer stood outside training arena one watching the guard go through their individual weapons movements. Seifer couldn't help but smile. Entrances were always fun, especially when they weren't expected. He kicked the doors open with a thundering boom. The room jumped to attention, as they should do for Seifer, but he was only looking at one man.

"What are you doing here, Seifer?' Squall asked, confused and slightly worried.

"I have orders to be here," he said, waiving the pack of papers at him that Quistis gave him.

One of the guard trainees, the blonde piece of shit one, decided he was dumb enough to talk back to Seifer. "Are you sure you're not lost? This isn't the psych ward." He laughed and looked at his friends and a few of them pretended to laugh. Nervously.

"I guess I must be." Seifer replied, faking confusion and staring around the room. "I thought this was the Balamb Guard. Where ruthless warriors trained to protect SeeDs while they sleep. But I do see my mistake. Sorry for interrupting your tea party."

The blonde piece of shit got mad. "You honestly think anyone wants you protecting them? You're more like to stab them in the back yourself." He spat out angrily.

Squall rolled his eyes. He had already had enough of Seifer's games and it hadn't even been a minute. He walked over to the cocky smiling bastard. "Seifer, let me see those orders." He ordered, dubious of their content. There was no way Seifer was telling the truth. But Squall just shook his head flipping threw page after page of perfectly typed orders. Quistis had to be out of her mind. Keep your hands off him, stay away from him, and by the way, I've assigned him as your subordinate to train. What was she thinking? Him as a subordinate? There was no way he'd behave.

Squall sighed and looked up at Seifer, tiredly. "Get in formation with the others."

And of course Seifer took his time strutting to an empty space with a huge grin because he was an insufferable bastard.

After two hours of intense body training, Squall called them to group. "Pair up and take turns practicing. Blocks only."

Squall watched as everyone paired up, leaving Seifer as the odd man out. That would have to be addressed sooner or later. He couldn't have division like this. But not the first day. It was already hard enough.

"Okay Almasy. Lets go." Squall walked to a corner of the room, leading Seifer away from the group.

This was probably a bad idea. He turned and faced the blonde. "You block my thrusts only. Got it? No sneaky attacks." There was no way Seifer would behave himself. He wasn't sure there was any way he'd be able to control himself either. This was too unpredictable for Squall. "And no holding moves. No grabbing of any kind," he ordered.

"Okay, just this time. But you should know I prefer to be the one doing the thrusting."

Squall shook his head. "Seifer, if you can't maintain professionalism, you'll have to go."

Seifer smirked, but nodded. He lifted his blade in defensive motion showing his acquiescence .

Squall followed by holding his gunblade up, horizontal, to begin an offensive... and he was suddenly excited. Really excited. Staring at the blonde whose face was bisected by Hyperion in front of him brought back so many feelings flooding in. He wasn't a sentimental person, so the feeling of nostalgia was surprising and a realization hit him. As much as he couldn't stand Seifer, hated him at times, there was no one on the planet that Squall has spent as much time with. Seifer and Squall had spent countless hours training, fighting, competing. There was no one else that has consumed more of Squall's time and energy. He had missed it.

He smiled back making Seifer's grin grow. He lunged and Seifer easily blocked, but not enough to knock him back, so using his momentum he swung for a side attack. And it was fun. He was able to give it his all, not hold back, and Seifer was able to block everything.

Well, almost everything. Squall swung a low left. Then did it again. He did it several times, in between other strikes, but came back to it again and again. Each time, it was just as weak. It put Squall in a completely new situation... as Seifer's teacher. And he wasn't sure he liked it. Giving Seifer better ammunition to fight him was the last thing Squall wanted to do. Still, it was his responsibility. "Fix that." He said quietly.

"Fix what?" Seifer asked.

"Your low block on your left side is slower and weak." Squall had been using it as an advantage for years.

"Is that so?" Seifer asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. Let's work on just that one." Squall attacked and Seifer blocked until Squall noticed something. "Your wrist, it's twisted when you block. Twist it back."

"Like this?"

"More like this." Leonhart grabbed Seifer's wrested and turned it. He could tell it was awkward. "Move your foot to the left a couple inches." Squall grabbed his knee and pushed until Seifer moved over. He continued to pull and adjust until he had him just right.

"Are you having fun feeling me up, Leonhart?"

"Yes." And it was true, whether Seifer took it as truth or not.

"This feels awkward." Seifer complained about the stance Squall had put him in.

"Just try it."

Squall swung and Seifer blocked. "Not bad," Seifer admitted

And they continued until Seifer could block it. And couldn't take anymore of Squall's weak spin attacks. "When you are going to do one of your quick spin attacks, single hand your blade and you will gain more momentum." Seifer told him.

"Seifer," Squall stopped in position. "This is a two handed sword. "

"So?"

"So, it means you use two hands." He replied like Seifer had two heads.

Seifer spit and stared down the brunette. He swallowed the words he wanted to say and aimed for something nice. "It's a tool." He replied like Squall was stupid. "A sharpened piece of metal. I don't give a fuck what some training manual says," he said. "You can shove it up your ass and use it as a tail if that's what works for you."

Squall shook his head. Seifer was missing the point. "It's too heavy. I might lose control of it. I could lose it."

Seifer shrugged. "Or you might not. You just might get a stronger attack, which lets face it, someone of your size shouldn't be turning down."

"My size?" Squall snapped back.

Seifer scowled. "Don't get all pissy. You know what I mean."

"I'm big enough to knock you on your ass." Squall continuing to prickle.

"Alright. I said don't get all pissy. Do what you want. It's your blade."

Squall shook his head in disgust. He was just as bad as Seifer, if not worse, considering Seifer had taken instruction with less offense than he had. He figured he at least owed him a try.

So he did it. He swung… and then let go near the end. It felt uncontrollable...

But stronger.

If he practiced it a bit, it might be a good back up move. Seifer was grinning like a proud dad. And of all things, Squall felt embarrassed. All he could do was look away.

"Hey Captain, did you forget about us?" One of his soldiers interrupted.

Squall looked at his watch and back up again. "Break." he barked while walking away. He had to get away from Seifer. Seifer made him feel too many things.

Seifer happily watched him as he walked away.

The members of the Balamb Guard had been slowly accepting Seifer as one of their own. Only Seifer could worm his way into the heart of his adversaries by being an arrogant bastard. Only Seifer could make being an asshole endearing.

On the other hand, there were still a few that would stop at nothing to see the ex-knight kicked out the door. Squall was well aware of the bullying, but he was hesitant to step in. Seifer wouldn't like it. He would be livid if Squall took over the situation and forced them to stop harassing the blonde. Like he needed to be rescued. Like he couldn't do it himself.

The only thing he could do was force Seifer to go to the infirmary and get his headaches checked out. Which was why he was sitting in the waiting room on a Friday afternoon instead of training. If Seifer was stronger, he could deal with them better. He would make sure the blonde guardsman rested over the weekend.

Seifer sat in the doctor's office and held his aching head with one hand. If self-pity cured afflictions, Seifer would be the healthiest fighter the world. Unfortunately, the headaches were getting worse, not better, and were becoming a hindrance to his normal greatness. They were getting so bad he had trouble even standing, let alone fighting. He broke down and agreed to see Dr. Kadowaki.

"You say they come on suddenly and without warning?"

Seifer nodded. They were painful and came with beautiful images of Leonhart naked and writhing in pleasure. Life really wasn't fair. The only time he didn't feel like jacking off, he had the best reason to do it.

"Hmmm, I'm sure we did a full evaluation when you arrived. Let me see if we still have the scans," she said, scooting across the floor on her wheeled stool. "Ah yes, here we are," she said as she began to study them intently. After several seconds, the doctor nodded to herself. "Hmm," she said.

"What?" Seifer wanted an answer. He knew she found something.

"Let me just see," she replied still looking at the scans.

"What?" He repeated, even more impatient. Whatever it was, the faster they worked on it, the faster it would be over.

But the doctor was wanting to be more careful than Seifer's patience allowed. "Well for one thing, we'll need to take more scans." She stood up and placed a hand beneath his arm. "Come with me."

Damnit. Why didn't she just tell him. Seifer stood, letting the doctor lead the way. She kept a good grip on his arm. as if her tiny size could steady him if he became dizzy and fell. It was always cute when small people were overconfident, but it wasn't alleviating his fear. And Seifer didn't want to hit the floor. "How far are we going?"

Dr. Kadowaki motioned him inside a room. "Just in here." She walked to the only cabinet in the room and opened it's doors. "Like I said, we need to take more scans before I can be sure of anything." She pulled a clean white linen from the cabinet and whipped it in the air, letting it float gently across the gurney in the center of the room. "I'll hold this steady while you hop up here." She patted the table with her hand. "And lay back."

He did as she asked, placing his arms at his side.

"I'm going to move the table where I want you. Just stay still," she said.

Seifer watched the ceiling move as she wheeled him under a large machine.

"I'm going to scan you now. It won't take long." She stopped moving. "Now keep your head straight and be still." Then she walked out of view.

Seifer thought back to the bar, everything Raijin had told him. How Leonhart had thought he was lost in a mist, and needed to be helped. That Leonhart had become obsessed and was convinced he had been with Seifer. And Raijin believed him because, well, Seifer showed up in the flesh soon after.

But nothing awoke any memory in Seifer. It gave him no answers. It was more likely he'd suffered a serious injury in a battle that threw him overboard a ship, into the water. That made more sense than anything Raijin believed. Seifer had seen first hand how loopy Squall was acting.

"We're done." He could hear her moving in the other room. "If you stay where you are, I will check these over."

The only thing that Seifer believed was that he and Leonhart had something in common with these obsessions and there was no reason why they couldn't explore that further. It made no sense why Squall was keeping his distance. It was just torturing them both.

"I think you have a small fracture," she said, standing over his table. "I'm going to give you a megalixir. That should cover the fracture and anything else we might have missed. I'll be right back."

Seifer lifted his neck and rubbed the back of his head. He still hurt and thinking about Leonhart wasn't helping. It was frustrating that he couldn't figure out why the brunette would say no to what he wanted.

"Here." She held out her hand as the contents leapt up and covered Seifer in a burst of light before burning out. Seifer started laughing. Laughing so hard he almost rolled off the gurney. The megalixir worked at curing his head and his memory. Squall was avoiding him because he was in love with Seifer, and the blonde had just wanted sex. It made perfect sense now. Squall was such a girl. His deep laugh filled the room.

Dr. Kadowaki grabbed him in time to steady him. "Are you alright?" She pushed his shoulders down, back against the bed. "Can you hear me?" She asked loudly. She took a flashlight out of her pocket and shined the light into his eyes.

Seifer pushed it away, still smiling. "I hear you just fine. I need to go."

He began to sit up, when she pushed him back down again. "Not so fast young man. I'll need to release you. Tell me your name."

"Seifer Almasy." Of course Squall would avoid him. He was hurt, and Seifer had been treating him like he's crazy.

"Right." She nodded. "Do you know where you are?"

"Balamb Garden. The infirmary," he replied, submitting to her questions. The faster he cooperated the faster he'd get to leave.

"Right. Now who's your supervisor again? Oh yes, it's Captain Leonhart. Let me see if he's still here." She walked to her desk to page the waiting room attendant. "I can't let you leave alone," she said, from the other room to Seifer. "Not after recovering from a fracture that size. I don't know how we missed it."

"Death by furniture is easy to miss."

"What's that again?" She looked up from his dismissal paperwork in her clipboard.

"Never mind. What time is it?" He asked, getting up. He needed set things straight with Squall as soon as possible.

* * *

Leonhart pushed the button to slide the clinic doors shut. When he turned around, he saw Seifer standing there with his arms crossed grinning at him like he was up to something. "What are you doing up?" He asked, surprised to see the blonde was already standing. And already into mischief.

But there was Seifer, advancing on him, grabbing him by the elbow and dragging him out of the clinic. "Let's go. We need to talk."

Seifer pulled him down the breezeway towards the main lobby. Leonhart almost had to run to keep up. "What are you doing?" Squall was informed that he needed to escort the fighter home. Not the other way around.

Seifer looked down at the brunette and smiled. "Setting things straight." He turned left at the circle, keeping his fast stride, and then turned left again before the dorms. They were heading towards the cafeteria instead.

"Wait, where are we going?" Squall asked. This was completely the wrong direction.

"Where does it look like we're going?" Seifer challenged, like Squall was stupid.

"The cafeteria." He felt stupid for having this conversation. And for not knowing what Seifer was planning.

"Exactly."

"Are you hungry?" Squall asked confused He wasn't even sure if Seifer knew what he was doing. He was acting stranger than normal.

"No. Just taking you to one of your favorite places." Seifer shook his head.

Squall stopped to look at him, interested in why he would say that, but Seifer placed a hand on his lower back and pushed, compelling him to walk. And fast. "Come on."

As soon as they entered, Seifer placed a hand on Leonhart's chest to stop him. The intimacy surprised the brunette. As he looked around, Squall searched his eyes hoping to find a clue on what this was all about. He didn't know what Seifer was looking for but apparently the blonde found it because he was pulling him forward again only to stop him at an empty table. At least they were in a deserted area.

"Sit here." Seifer pushed him into an empty chair and then sat down across from him. The blonde didn't have everything he needed to say planned out, but he knew they had to do it here. The familiar ground would make it more real. Being around people might make it harder for Squall, but he couldn't shut a door and hide this way. Seifer placed his hand on the table and felt the smooth surface, remembering the first time he'd screwed Leonhart.

Squall watched with raised eyebrows as Seifer felt up the table with a stupid smirk on his face. It was making him hot and he didn't know why. Seifer had a way of doing that to him. He needed to find out what this was about so he could leave. "What do you want, Seifer?"

The blonde stopped moving his hand and looked at him. There were several options to take and most of them would lead to Squall trying to run. The only thing he wouldn't run from was a fight. So Seifer got mad. "I want an apology. No, better yet... What I want is for you to throw your arms around me, tell me you're sorry, then kiss me until I forgive you."

Squall leaned back in his chair as far as he could, shocked. He didn't expect Seifer to do this again. "You're still sick." Seifer was going to freak out like he did in the elevator. Except this time it would be in front of everyone.

The blonde scowled. "Just do it. Or else." Seifer decided he deserved a public display for everything he'd been put through, And he would have it. Squall may have been suffering, but so has he.

"Or else what?" He asked, uncertain he wanted to hear the answer. Squall glanced around the room. People were watching them, and not just their friends. There's nothing that Squall hated more than attention. He shouldn't have asked. He didn't need to know what this was about. He needed to stop it.

Seifer took his chance when he saw it. He leaned over the table and grabbed Squall by both arms and pulled him towards towards the table. And towards Seifer. Now he couldn't run. He said low enough, just so Squall could hear, "Or else I throw you over the table and fuck you right here. And you'll like it." He'd do it, too. He was ready to show the world who Leonhart belonged to, one way or another. He wasn't playing any more games and he wasn't going to let the brunette go.

Squall gasped and started fighting to get free. "What's wrong with you?" The brunette pushed at his chest, urging him to sit back, or let go, or anything. "You need to go back to the infirmary." There was no way he was okay. Something was really wrong with his head. And people were openly staring now.

Seifer didn't budge. He held the squirming fighter tight in his arms. "No, what I need is for you to not be afraid of this."

This was nuts. "I'm not afraid of you." Squall answered, hotly. "I'm afraid you're crazy and you don't know what you're doing."

Quistis appeared next to them. "What's going on with you two?" She asked with her arms crossed.

"Stay out of it, Trepe," the blonde said, dismissing her.

"You are the one who brought this in here. You practically dropped it in my lap," she replied.

Seifer thought it was actually a very good point. He looked at Quistis. "Listen, I just want witnesses. I demand to be reimbursed for all the torture I've put up with," he explained while still holding Squall tightly.

"What torture?" Squall was at a complete loss. Seifer was not making sense. He hadn't been hard on Seifer at all. In fact, some were saying he was too easy on him and that he favored the gunblader because he was a friend.

"You nearly killed me bringing me out of the fog." Seifer yelled at him. The fighter watched as blue eyes grew wide in understanding Now he had a sense of what they were talking about. "Yeah, you could dream of water. But could you have dreamed of some ground? Or not let your furniture land on me?"

Squall didn't move, couldn't think, didn't know what to say. He didn't know what was happening. He pushed with enough force to break free and stand. He was going to leave and let Quistis deal with it. He turned and came face to face with Rinoa.

"Squall, you brought Seifer out of the fog?" Rinoa looked at both of them and clutched her chest so strangely, Squall thought she might be injured. Then she threw her arms around his neck and started bawling. "Waaaa, I'm so happy for you, Squall" She cried, wiping her eyes on his shoulder. "And I'm so proud of you." Squall stood with his arms straight at his side. He had jumped from one catastrophe to another.

Dread filled Quistis at the expanding spectacle this was becoming. "Rinoa!" She ran to the girl and patted her softly on the back. "Please, please, please, stop crying," she whispered. "People are staring."

Rinoa waved her hand dismissively, "But I'm so happy. It all makes sense now," she cried. "Oh Squall, you're in love."

"What is she blabbering about?" Irvine asked Selphie. But the clueless girl just shrugged. She followed Irvine over there because she thought Seifer and Squall were going to fight. She had no clue what was going on.

Seifer pulled Leonhart out of Rinoa's grasp and back into his. He pinned Squall's arms down in a tight hug. He wasn't going to let him go.

Raijin and Fujin placed themselves on either side of their leader and glared at Leonhart. From the looks of it, Seifer was wrestling Squall which mean a fight was imminent. "There a problem here?"

"There's no problem," Seifer assured Raijin, "but just so you know, I believe you now." Seifer smiled and began to kiss the squirming brunette softly on the neck. Squall froze.

Fuijin's glare moved from Squall to Raijin. She knew what that meant. "TRAITOR!" Fujin yelled, pointing at Raijin. The large man's eyes turned wide in terror as the white haired girl lunged at him. He was in a world of trouble.

Quistis turned to Selphie and Irvine. "You guys! Help me!" She begged them. With Rinoa bawling, and two fights breaking out, the entire cafeteria was watching. They had to stop this. She hurried off to see who else could get to help.

Selphie looked at Irvine. "What does she want us to do about it?" She asked.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Maybe distract people?" A light bulb went off in his head. "Go run get your guitar, Selph. We're going to perform." The bubbly girl smiled and clapped as she raced top get her guitar. It was so lucky she brought it to dinner. She ran back and started playing as Irvine stomped his foot in time. The both started singing at the same time.

As Selphie and Irvine belted out a bar song, Zell slipped under the table. Quistis ran over to get him.

"Oh Hyne, Zell, not you, too." She couldn't handle anyone else doing anything strange. "Get out from under the table!" Quistis begged. "And help me stop this!"

"No way!" He yelled, scowling at her. "It's the end of the world. I'm staying where it's safe." He snatched his hotdogs off the table to keep him company. If the world was going to end, he wasn't going to go out hungry.

Quistis trembled as she stood with her fist balled. She had only one choice left. She grabbed a handful of peas off the table. "Food fight!" She screamed as she hurled the green glob towards the middle of the crowd. A second later, the entire room erupted in a cloud of flying food.

"Here's your chance, Squall," Seifer said, whispering in his ear. "No one is looking at you," he pointed out. Everyone in the cafeteria was involved in some sort of chaos now. They didn't have time for Seifer and Squall now.

Squall turned his head to look back at the blonde. "Seifer, do you remember about being with me in the fog?" Squall asked.

Seifer caressed the side of his face with his cheek. "All of it."

The last thing Squall would ever do was pander to Seifer's obnoxious ways. So when he turned and kissed him, it wasn't for the blonde. "I'm sorry." It was to shut him up so they could leave. "Can we go now?"

"Oh God," Zell whined after witnessing Squall just kiss the biggest asshole known to man. "The world _is_ ending. I knew it!"

* * *

The two gunbladers slipped out of the pandemonium and made their way down the quiet corridor to privacy. As they walked in silence, Seifer couldn't help but notice the frown on Leonhart's face. "What's wrong with you?"

Squall pursed his lip in worry. He knew this would sound stupid. It wasn't like he was afraid, but it _had_ been a while and they weren't in the fog. "What if it's boring? What if I'm no good?"

"If what's boring?" Seifer asks, acidly.

"The sex." They wouldn't magically have clothing removed and interesting props. They weren't alone in paradise anymore. It would be time consuming, embarrassing, and messy.

Seifer stopped walking and looked at the brunette like he was the stupidest thing he'd ever seen. "Come here." He said, grabbing him by the elbow again. When they reached Seifer's room, he shoved the brunette inside.

"Quit dragging me around, Seifer." Squall says angrily, straightening his disheveled jacket. He was tired of being treated like cattle.

But Seifer didn't answer him, preferring to lean over and tap away at his keyboard instead. Squall was left feeling uncomfortable again. There was no way they could recreate what they had in the fog. It would be devastatingly inferior now. He needed to get out of there before his embarrassment became intolerable. But before he could leave, Seifer was looking at him again.

"There," the blonde said, pointing to the monitor.

Squall looked closely and noticed his name and statistics on the screen. "Hey, that's my file. You logged me into my SeeD Level test." He glared at Seifer, furious. "If I don't finish it, I could lose a SeeD level!"

"You'd better get working on it then." Seifer replied calmly.

Squall stared at him, shaking his head in shock. What was Seifer thinking? The brunette bent to read the first question and then felt hands on his hips. He ignored them. _The Med Data ability enables the use of 2 potions in 1 turn. Yes or no. _

The hands began to rub his thighs. Seifer was going to torture him. _What was the Med Data ability?_

The hands moved forward, fondling him He was getting hard. There wasn't time for this. "Seifer, stop it!" He slapped at the hands. _Okay, think about the Med Data ability._

Seifer ripped the button open on his leather, then unzipped him slowly. Squall stood up with a sigh and zipped his pants. "I mean it, Seifer." The blonde grinned in acknowledgment. Once he was satisfied he got his point across, he bent down again to work on his test. The hands came back and moved under his jacket, up his back slowly and down his sides. He felt the heat rise up his spine. _Damnit, Seifer! _

Seifer peeled his jacket off of him and he let him. He was too hot anyway. He closed his eyes when he felt hands move under his shirt, over his belly and up to his chest. He had to force them open again. He had to focus. He thought the answer was no but he wasn't sure about the ability. He had fingers making circles on his nipples. "Seifer, please."

But the attack didn't stop. Instead, Seifer rubbed his hardness against him while they were bent. "Don't worry about me. Worry about your test." he said against his neck.

Squall could feel the smile in the blonde's voice. He shook his head and scoffed. The answer to the Med Data ability was no. But not for Seifer. The asshole didn't know the meaning of the word. Squall had to give up for now.

Seifer knew he lost the upper hand the minute Leonhart turned around. The brunette was on him like he remembered when waking up in the infirmary. Kissing him like a sex-starved prisoner.

Greedy hands were weaving their way into Seifer's jacket, slipping it off his shoulders and letting it fall to the ground. "What about your test?"

"I'll finish it later." Leonhart immersed himself in Seifer's lips, kissing him until he breath was shallow and fast, only stopping for a moment to rip off the blonde's shirt as fast as possible. They continued their kiss deep and wet, bare skin moving on top of skin. Seifer pressed him against the desk with his body to get more. Holding him close with fists clinching his hips, rubbing the length of his thigh into hard leather covered flesh.

"God, Seifer," Squall arched in to him, moaning, needing, grinding, as his fingers tangled through short hair to pull the blonde deeper into his kiss.

Someone was knocking on the door. "Are you guys in there?" Irvine's voice heard muffled through the room.

Seifer's lips reluctantly let go of the kiss as he leaned his head back. "No, go away." He yelled. Squall's tongue magnetically attracted to the new skin. Leonhart licked the pulse beating in his neck. "Squall," Seifer moaned in need, placing a hand on the back of the brunette's head to pull him in harder. Squall continued a path down his neck, tasting greedily every dip and change in sweat covered skin.

"What are you guys doing in there?" Came the sing-songy amused voice.

"Go the fuck away." Seifer yelled.

Squall slid off the desk, kissing the firm chest along the way, his hands flitting greedily over muscle. He slid to his knees, his mouth pressed reverently against Seifer's dick. "Oh, God, Seifer," He wanted to taste him. He touched himself, pushing his hand against straining leather and moaned. He _needed_ to taste him.

Fast, shaky hands unbuttoned black fabric as Seifer stood proudly above him, hands rubbing his head, urging him on. "Yes," his voice deep and rough sent a shiver coursing down his spine.

He pulled on fabric, yanking elastic down with it anxiously awaiting skin. He gasped at the site of it, panting in want. He dreamed of this, licking the length of it, "Mhmm," moaning as skin became slick under his tongue.

He opened his mouth to take it in, to savor it. "Fuck, yes." The deep voice felt rumbling through the blonde's body straight to his lips.

Footsteps faded and giggling tapered off into blessed quiet as Squall fucked himself with his hand and sucked Seifer into oblivion. Seifer couldn't stop to save himself, "Yes, suck me." he groaned, "that's it, Squall." He was too close.

Seifer pushed him back by the shoulders, the brunette letting go of his dick reluctantly with a pop. Lips swollen, chest flushed heaving in short breaths, begging, leather straining against his own hand, "Seifer, please," he panted, Blue eyes begging him to let him continue sucking him. Seifer had to fuck him now.

He yanked Squall off his knees, pushed the keyboard off his desk, letting it dangle over the side. He shoved Leonhart's pants down, turning him and shoved him against the desk. "Shit, where the fuck is it!" Seifer reached for the oil on the desk and finally found it, coating his fingers.

His finger slid down slowly in the crevice of skin, making Squall moan in need. He found the dip and sunk his finger in, groaning at the tightness of it. Seifer had sweat dripping off skin, his body aching and dick pulsing in need. He shook as his finger moved slowly in and out, "Just relax," his voice strained and controlled, talking to himself as much as Squall.

Leonhart looked at the monitor, eyes blurring the characters together into nonsense. "Unh," he couldn't focus on anything but the finger moving in and out of him. He licked the sweat off his lip with his tongue, wanting something desperately in his mouth, to kiss, to suck on. He breathed. He waited, relaxed, waiting for more.

Seifer slipped another finger in, "God, yes," he moaned at the deepness of it, greedily, wanting more, wanting to be stretched full, he couldn't care if it hurt. Seifer's fingers slid deep and his brain stopped functioning and he was being controlled by nothing but those two little fingers now. He would do anything for those two fingers to never stop. "Yes," he grabbed himself, squeezing tight, and arched up, writhing, pushing himself back on Seifer's hand.

"You look so good," Seifer slipped a third finger, faster now, his patience straining him. He pulled out and grabbed the side of Squall's hips, jerking the brunette's ass up. guiding himself forward and sunk slowly into ecstasy. His eyes pooled at the back of his head. He leaned forward, body laying against naked skin. Squall turned too look at him, eyes heavy lidded and wanting. "Fuck," Seifer wanted to die this way.

He touched Squall's swollen lips with his fingers as he began to move. Squall licked then greedily then sucked the blonde's hand in as Seifer fucked him, in and out, "Yes, that's it," in and out, until the blonde lifted him up again, forcing him to hold himself up with his arms, his body no longer resting on the desk.

"Unh," he whined in protest at the new position until Seifer's wet hand coated his hardness and pulled. His body vibrated, and his breath came out in short spurts as the pressure built up inside him, pushing against his skin. Seifer brought him to the edge and kept him there with an unrelenting rhythm, pushing into him from behind and pulling him forward. "Ah, Seifer," he screamed at the fierceness of his senses sweeping him away as he came.

Seifer filled him entirely and held him as he came, his muscles pulsing around him, making him groan and push even deeper. The orgasm being sucked out of him, he pulled Leonhart's hips onto him with bruising strength. A force moved through him like the strength of a guardian. "Fuck," he shouted. Yes, yes, yes. He missed this. He was never letting it go.

He kissed his back softly, waiting. Rubbing tenderly, coaxing him gently back to now, knowing he wouldn't disappear, knowing the brunette loved him. "Squall," he whispered. "Let's lie down."

"I can't," he spit back bitterly, surprising Seifer, "I have to take a test."

Seifer laughed. "I'll help you." Knowing he was close to being in love himself if he was willing to do that.

The End


End file.
